NEW SCOTLAND — An 11-year Voorheesville Middle School student has been charged with a felony for threatening to kill a classmate last Wednesday. 

The incident occured on May 25, a day after the school massacre in Texas.

“We commend the students and community who came forward with information about a threat that was made from one student towards another student that led to a student arrest,” says a May 27 message from Superintendent Frank Macri posted on the district’s website. “At no time during the day was there an immediate danger to the students.”

Inspector J.T. Campbell of the Albany County Sheriff's Office did not return a call before press time. 

The 11-year-old student was charged with making a terroristic threat, a class-D felony that comes with an 18-month sentence in a secure detention facility, or up to two years of probation, or a combination of probation and time in a detention center, or what Campbell previously told The Enterprise an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, meaning if the student kept out of trouble for so many months, the arrest record would be sealed.

Macri told The Enterprise he’s working with the middle school’s principal, Jennifer Drautz, and the sheriff’s office to clarify a timeline, “and see if there’s anything that we can do to better.”

Macri said he wanted to be clear about how things were handled and when the district first learned of the incident, which he said wasn’t until late in the evening on Wednesday, May 25. The sheriff’s office was notified on Thursday, May 26, during school hours, Macri said.

In the past, if there’s been an on-campus incident involving police, a notification has been sent to parents via the district’s school messenger system.

But that wasn’t the case with the May 25 incident. 

Macri said parents with children in the middle school were notified of what happened on Friday morning in addition to a posting about the incident on going up about it on the district’s website, which metadata shows was posted about 8:10 a.m., on May 27.

Asked why everyone who signed up with the school messenger system hadn’t been notified, Macri said the incident had been “building specific,” but then said, with the benefit of hindsight, he’d likely send all-grades notification, adding he’ll likely do that in the future. 

“Building safety is important,” Macri said, “we treat each situation like it’s a serious situation,” and cited as evidence previous incidents from early May and March where police were called.