While New York State Police officers continue to investigate a Feb. 1 incident in the town of Madison during which two “homemade chemical bombs” were placed alongside the home of a Cazenovia high school teacher, the district has taken disciplinary actions against an undisclosed number of students for the event.
“The police are in charge of legal and criminal matters; we are in charge of things as outlined in our student handbook … including issues of harassment,” said Superintendent Matt Reilly when asked how the school has taken disciplinary action against students but the police have made no arrests. “They’re two different issues. This is not unusual; schools have rules and the law is the law. It’s possible to violate one and to still have questions about the other.”
Although the incident occurred more than one month ago, it was not until the last week in February when new information was uncovered by the district, passed on to police and the incident to become public knowledge.
According to state police, the incident was reported to them on Feb. 1, when a Cazenovia High School teacher, whose name has not been officially disclosed, reported finding two Gatorade bottles filled with what appeared to be chemicals next to her residence on Lay Road in the town of Madison.
The bomb disposal unit was called and removed the two bottles; the exact nature of the liquid(s) inside the bottles has not been released by police.
The investigation into the incident had been ongoing since Feb.1, but it was not until recently that new information was uncovered by the school district and turned over to the state police, said Superintendent Matt Reilly.
Based on that information, the district has taken disciplinary actions against an undisclosed number of students in relation to the incident, Reilly said. Reilly would not disclose the ages, grade levels or exact disciplinary measures taken, and said he could not talk about what events between the teacher and the student(s) may have occurred that led to the Feb. 1 incident.
As of press time, the state police investigation remains “ongoing” and no arrests have been made, said State Police Public Information Officer Jack Keller.
Reilly said that while this has been a difficult issue for the school district, “this is still a great school district, these are still great kids and teachers, and through all this we never want that to be lost sight of.”
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
