A New Paltz Middle School teacher and parent believes the district isn’t taking the intrusion by an 18-year old man into two New Paltz schools in mid-April seriously enough, but superintendent Stephen Gratto has tried to reassure the community while local police continue their investigation.
What is not disputed is that in the morning of Tuesday, April 18, 18-year-old Newburgh resident Ben T. Kooperman allegedly first entered New Paltz Middle School, and then allegedly entered New Paltz High School (NPHS). After fleeing the latter, he was arrested by New Paltz police.
Later that day, Superintendent Gratto shared an update with the community on the NPCSD website (https://www.newpaltz.k12.ny.us/Page/13839).
In the letter, in which Kooperman was not named, Gratto said the intrusion in the middle school had occurred shortly after 8 a.m. when “an 18-year-old individual, in no way connected with our school,” walked through the front door by pretending to be a student. Gratto went on to say that Kooperman was in the building for several minutes before a staff member asked for identification, and when he fled, local police were notified.
According to Gratto’s letter, Kooperman then attempted to gain access to New Paltz High School, roughly two miles from the middles school, but found its exterior doors were locked. According to police, at around 8:20 a.m., Kooperman was refused entrance through the cafeteria. He then allegedly went to the front entrance and rang the bell, was buzzed into the building, and was met with an officer from the New Paltz Police Department and school administrators. Kooperman again fled, and was apprehended near the entrance to NPHS on South Putt Corners Road.
“The individual expressed to the police that he thought it would be funny to see if he could enter school buildings without getting caught,” wrote Gratto, who added that in a separate incident two days earlier, another unnamed individual was let into the high school by a student.
“The individuals in both events have now been identified and are being dealt with by the police,” Gratto wrote. “Both individuals were unarmed. There is no indication that the two events are at all related. In the first case the interloper was a former student who illegally gained access to the school in order to give a donation of school equipment to one of our teachers. In today’s case the individual was a person from out of town who was visiting a friend from SUNY and had no connection with our school or with SUNY New Paltz.”
Jennifer Pizzarello, a world languages teacher at New Paltz Middle School and a parent of a student at NPHS, claimed that while in the middle school, Kooperman gained access to two classrooms, writing “a mocking message” in one, and searching through a computer in another. She further claimed that a staff member who confronted the intruder found their walkie talke was not working, and proceeded to the main office on foot, after which building administrators “spent about 10-15 minutes looking at camera footage.”
Pizzarello sent an open letter to the superintendent after the April 16 incident in which she questioned the response at the middle school.
“Why was the middle school not put into lockdown until the building was declared safe by law enforcement?”Pizzarello said. “Why were the police not called immediately? Isn’t it possible that a swift response at the middle school might have prevented the man later entering the high school? Last week when a former student gained entry to the high school, the police were called. Why was the protocol different at the middle school on Tuesday when an unknown person gained entrance? Why are administrators reacting differently to similar crimes?”
On Thursday, April 18, Gratto updated the community with a video message after receiving numerous phone calls and emails asking for clarity (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Zr8urPK0e-wAonwOtASurxxst42NtHc5/view).
“I realize that this situation is very difficult for everyone who cares about the children of our district,” Gratto said. “I am a parent, just like many of you, and I would have been concerned if my sons were in the building when there was an intruder in the school.”
In the video, Gratto said the district had been as forthcoming as possible, but added that “the New Paltz Police Department has asked us, as we share information, to keep in mind that this is an active police investigation.”
Gratto also addressed district officials not immediately putting the middle school into lockdown.
“It’s important for you to understand that at this point it was not known whether or not the individual was a student in the district who was just running away,” Gratto said. “When it was reported to administration that an individual who looked like a student had left the building, it was believed that it was one of our students who had left the building. It took a few minutes for administrators to view security videos that eventually identified that the individual was not (a) student. At this point, the deputy superintendent was called and then the police station was contacted. The police dispatcher confirmed that the individual in question had already been apprehended. And since the individual was in custody, no lockout was called.”
Gratto asked for the community’s “patience and support” as the district looked to improve upon its security measures.
“We want to let you know we care and that we share your concerns and that we’re working on it, and safety is our top priority,” Gratto said. “However, we need to work on things in a strategic and measured way. Knee-jerk reactions are not what will serve our students at this time. I ask that you give us time to look at the situation and make appropriate changes.”
Pizzarello shared a second open letter in response to the superintendent’s video.
“In response to your plea, no, you do not have my patience and certainly not my support,” she wrote. “We already saw the cracks in our security the week prior at the high school. So while I am glad that you are working in a strategic manner, the community needs to know the failures of Tuesday will not be repeated. How do we accomplish this? By first acknowledging exactly what protocols either went wrong or weren’t followed. Trust is shattered. Without admission of missteps, how can trust be restored?”
Pizzarello continued to question the response at the middle school.
“I still don’t know why the middle school did not lockdown and call law enforcement immediately nor do I know what our protocol is for intruders,” she wrote. “Saying that admins thought he was a student is not an answer. It is an admission of gross negligence and the community deserves better and deserves accountability. After decades in education, my common sense tells me these criminal acts should have led to a district wide lock out or lockdown until it was clear there were no other threats. My family, my colleagues and my beloved students are all at risk due to irresponsible decision making. What is being done NOW to ensure all admins know how to respond to an intruder?”
On April 18, New Paltz United Teachers posted similar concerns to their public Facebook page.
“The NPUT Executive Team is very concerned with the events that occurred at the middle school and high school on Tuesday,” they wrote. “We are disturbed that the middle school was left vulnerable when the administration did not call a lockdown or take other protective measures, putting all schools within our district at risk due to not being alerted. We are troubled by the discrepancy in the responses at the respective buildings. Furthermore, we are concerned that there is a lack of transparency in the way these events have been depicted to the community and hope that critical details are brought to light for all stakeholders.”
On Friday, April 26, Superintendent Gratto responded to a question from Hudson Valley One with a statement: “The district has clearly and consistently shared all relevant details of the incident in question.” He added, “I encourage all people with interest in this topic to read/watch the following press releases,” and shared links to his April 16 message, his April 18 video, and a letter from Wednesday, April 24, which covered districtwide safety measures, including some changes after the pair of intrusions (https://www.newpaltz.k12.ny.us/Page/13841).
“Please realize that some of these practices are new and some of them have been around for awhile,” Gratto wrote. “Some of them have been adequately enforced and some need to be reimplemented. Many of these practices will cause students, parents, teachers and administrators to do things differently, and many of the changes will not be easy or popular.”
Though the summary does not specific which safety measures are new, it does break them down by category, including arrivals/departures, ID cards for employees, visitors to school, parking lot protocols, halls/classrooms/doors and after school.
Kooperman, 18, was charged with two counts of Criminal Trespass in the 3rd degree, a Class B misdemeanor; and one count of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the 2nd degree, a Class D felony, and was issued a stay away order of protection for the entire New Paltz Central School District.
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