Bomb Threats At NJ Schools Leave Students Waiting In Freezing Temps

GARFIELD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Nine school districts in Bergen County, New Jersey were among countless others across the nation to receive bomb threats about the same time earlier this week.

Some schools kept students in place, while others evacuated out of caution. But evacuations led to another problem with many students waiting outside in the freezing temperatures.

As CBS2's Christine Sloan reported, some students in Fair Lawn said they had to walk in the cold to the middle school while others got on buses.

"They should have gotten us all on buses. It's unfair," said Fair Lawn student Alexander Blecher.

At Bergenfield High School, not all of the buses were available, so students had to walk outside in freezing temperatures until they made it to their middle school about six blocks away.

"(Sloan: How long do you think you waited in the cold? Probably an hour and a half to two hours," said Bergenfield student Michael Cardona. "It was pretty cold. It was unexpected, a lot of us had our jackets, some people had sweaters, others in T-shirts. But it was understandable because the school was following procedure."

But Bergenfield Police Capt. Mustafa Rabboh refuted the claim that students waited outside for more than an hour.

Still, police in charge of the evacuation said they'll be meeting with the superintendent and other officials to see how they can make improvements to their procedures.

"(Sloan: What about the buses?) There are buses, we can utilize the school buses that are in the high school," said Rabboh. "The unfortunate thing with yesterday was the frigid weather. We couldn't wait for the buses, we had them escorted to the middle school."

Officials said they're also looking at more shelter locations.

"As of right now, we have synagogues in town, we have churches. I am going to reach out to them," Robboh said.

Bergenfield's superintendent said they're considering purchasing emergency blankets too, but the main priority is student safety.

"When you receive a bomb threat on your property, the priority is to get children to a safe place, which we did," the superintendent said.

CBS2 reached out to the superintendents in Fair Lawn and Garfield, but haven't heard back.

Sloan also spoke with NJ TRANSIT, which can provide buses during emergencies like big fires and evacuations.

A Spokesperson said they will provide whatever they can to help, but local office of emergency management officials have to make the request.

Many of the districts used lockdown procedures during the threat.

Police in Leonia said based on information they received, they deemed the threat non-credible early on and kept students in school.