Unfounded bomb threat prompted New Kensington-Arnold delay

A bomb threat prompted the New Kensington-Arnold School District to delay the start of classes Friday morning, according to information provided by the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.

The unfounded threat targeted Valley High School, spokeswoman Melanie Jones said.

The district sent a message to families shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday that it would be operating on a two-hour delay Friday, but did not specify why and did not state that it directly involved any schools.

“The decision to delay was made between district administration and law enforcement officials while an active investigation is conducted in the community,” the message said.

Information about a possible bomb threat involving the school district was received Thursday, resulting in an investigation Thursday night and into Friday morning, Jones said.

While the threat remains under investigation, Jones said there is no danger to the school district or the community.

New Kensington police Chief Robert Deringer deferred comment to Jones.

District Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said the district “agreed to a two-hour delay this morning to provide law enforcement additional time as needed for the investigation and an extra layer of proactive safety measures to ensure that nothing carried over into the high school.

“In order to keep the distraction to its lowest impact, having the delay districtwide required less adaptation of academic and transportation schedules,” he said in an emailed statement.

The Northern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center, located adjacent to Valley High School, operated normally, said its director, Jason Hicks.

Hicks said he was aware of the threat, but it did not involve the vo-tech school.