By Aidan Fox ’16, News Editor

On the morning of Monday, November 16th, faculty members were in professional development meetings and students were arriving at school for a delayed opening. Suddenly, it was announced that an evacuation drill was in effect. Those approximately 80 already in the building filed outside onto the football field as other students simultaneously arrived. Minutes later, it was announced that the evacuation had been upgraded from an evacuation off school property. Those who were already on the football field were led across the street to Kushner Academy and the Newark Academy campus was blocked off by the Livingston Police Department. Students who had yet to arrive were unable to enter the driveway while a significant traffic jam built up on South Orange Avenue. Only after everyone had returned to Newark Academy was it revealed to the student body that there was a suspicious package found and the police and Essex County Sheriff’s bomb squad, who ultimately determined that there was no threat, were called in. So, what caused all this?

In September, Elias Neibart ’16, president of the Young Republicans Club, was planning for the club fair with faculty advisor Mr. Goldfischer. They ordered a box of pocket constitutions under Mr. Goldfischer’s name that they planned to distribute at the club fair. This shipment, however, for reasons unknown, arrived in October, well after the club fair. Elias picked up the box from the front desk and put it in his gym locker temporarily. He noticed nothing suspicious about it. He then, however, left the box there for months, until on the afternoon of Friday, November 13th, maintenance worker Sal Quintos noticed the box addressed to Mr. Goldfischer during a regular sweep of the boys’  locker room, and thought that it did not belong there. That afternoon, Mr. Quintos left the package with Mr. Brian Stephenson, Director of Building Operations, who later handed it to Mr. Goldfischer on Monday morning during the faculty development meetings. Mr. Goldfischer was surprised by the delivery and found the box suspicious. At this point, he made the decision to call 911 and report the package. The question on everyone’s mind, of course, is, “Why? What was suspicious about the package?” Mr. Goldfischer, Mr. Stephenson, and Ms. Galvin were unable to detail this because the Livingston Police Department (LPD), which at the time were investigating the case,  instructed that the package itself was not to be discussed.

A member of the LPD, however, was able to provide additional information over the phone. Detective Sergeant Jack Hickey claimed that there was a single word written on the bottom of the package. While he could not disclose any further details regarding the word itself, the rumor on campus was that it was “bomb.” Detective Hickey could neither confirm nor deny this. It is also unclear at which point this message was written or when it was discovered. Elias says that he never saw it. It was often assumed by students that someone at Newark Academy had written on the box once it was already in the locker room, but Detective Hickey believes it was more likely written before it reached the campus, possibly at the manufacturer’s site or post office. He speculates it could have been there the entire time that it was in Elias’s possession, but he didn’t notice it simply because it was on the bottom of the box and therefore not visible. Ms. Galvin thinks that the message was more likely written by someone in the boys’ locker room, doubting that such a message could go unnoticed by the several people who saw the package before it reached the locker room, such as the mail carrier and front office staff members.

Due to the uncertainty involved, Detective Hickey said it was “very difficult to track down,” and this is partially because there are no security cameras in the boy’s locker room due to New Jersey law. The LPD and subsequently the County Prosecutor’s Office investigated both inside and outside the NA community, but no suspects were found and the investigation has been closed. The police department noted that if a minor or group of minors were found to have committed the act, they would likely have been charged as adults and not minors due to the taxpayer resources that were used as a result of their actions. It will likely remain a mystery to the public who wrote the message on the box.

While this was an unfortunate incident that happened at probably the worst possible time of the schoolday, our school’s response to it has been universally praised by both the faculty and the Livingston Police. Everyone interviewed views Mr. Goldfischer’s decision to call the police as a necessary precaution. “If there’s something going on,” said Ms. Galvin, “You call the police.” Regarding the ensuing hour or so, Mr. Goldfischer said, “We followed direction and I think we as a school did that very well. Everybody did what they needed to do and everybody reacted very well. I’d like to thank Kushner Academy,” who Ms. Galvin called “very gracious, very accommodating.” Mr. Goldfischer also noted that in return, Kushner “commented on how exceptional the behavior of our students was.” That being said, some problems did arise from the incident that can be learned from. Students and most faculty members were informed that the evacuation was a “drill,” only to learn that it was most certainly not one. This prompted several parents to email administrators, upset that they had been “misled.” The decision to call it a drill was, in fact, not made by the Academy, but by the LPD, who did not believe there to be a serious enough threat to label it a “bomb threat.” Ms. Galvin said, “A better word would have been precaution. It really was just a word problem.” Another problem was that during the evacuation, there was a shortage of walkie-talkies that created difficulties in communication. As a result, more walkie-talkies are being purchased. Kushner Academy and Newark Academy have a reciprocal agreement to be each other’s remote locations for evacuations, but this applies only to people, not cars. When the Kushner parking lot filled up, those arriving later in the morning were forced to park at locations like the Livingston Mall, in the Florham Park strip mall or, in some cases, go home. Some students and teachers were actually asked to leave the Livingston Mall. This is a problem with no solution in the foreseeable future as both nearby malls have refused to be remote locations for fear of liability.

Fortunately, Newark Academy isn’t a school that routinely faces security threats. This is as exciting as it gets here.