Parents challenge Newburgh school district’s account of lockout during nearby violent assault
The district now denies telling News 12 no students were outside during the incident, while a parent raises concerns about a reported malfunctioning emergency PA system.
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New questions are being raised about a Newburgh elementary school’s emergency response to a brutal beating nearby, after parents challenged the district’s initial account of whether students were outside during the incident.
The Oct. 9 attack on Mark Adams at Tyrone Crabb Memorial Park left him seriously injured and hospitalized. The park is next to Horizons-on-the-Hudson Magnet School, which was in session at the time.
Adams, who had been accused of strangling a woman inside her Newburgh home days earlier, was brutally beaten in what authorities were investigating as possible vigilante violence. Officials initially reported he had also been stabbed but later retracted that information.
A Newburgh Enlarged City School District representative initially told News 12 by phone that no students were outside when the attack occurred, and that the incident prompted a brief lockdown during the initial police response. Parents subsequently contacted News 12, disputing that account and saying children were outside at recess when the school’s emergency response began.
Now, in a written statement to families, district Superintendent Dr. Jackielyn Manning-Campbell said students were not outside during the incident. She instead said that students were out for recess and were brought inside during the emergency response.
The superintendent says staff initiated what the district describes as a secure lockout after spotting police vehicles responding to an incident nearby. School officials then contacted police, determined the lockout was unnecessary and quickly lifted it.
One parent tells News 12 the district’s safety director acknowledged during a phone conversation that the outdoor PA system wasn’t working properly, preventing teachers outside from hearing the emergency alert.
In its written response, the district outlined its emergency communication procedures, including indoor and outdoor PA announcements, walkie-talkies carried by recess staff and an optional employee alert app.
The district did not directly address the reported PA system malfunction in its statement by said its director of safety and security will discuss emergency response protocols at the Board of Education meeting Tuesday, Oct. 27.
