White Plains schools were placed in brief hold-in-place on Wednesday as police investigated a teacher in need of assistance.
Joseph Ricca, the superintendent of the district, said emergency management protocols were enacted roughly between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Wednesday as police investigated a teacher who was "in crisis" on the high school's campus.
Ricca said the hold-in-place was lifted and school resumed after the situation was handled.
School officials say the incident began when their technology team found out that a teacher was engaging with a crisis hotline while connected to the school district's network.
Ricca said this concerned them, so the schools were put on a hold-in-place as police engaged with the teacher in crisis.
He said the teacher was "detained" and taken off the property by the police as part of the investigation.
Ricca made it clear that the individual did not have any weapons on their person and said he was grateful that no students or other staff were put in harm's way at any point of the day.
White Plains police have since characterized the investigation as a "medical aide response" and said that the teacher is not in their custody at this time.
They added that no one was harmed to their knowledge and there is no reason to believe that any school or surrounding area were ever in danger.
Ricca said he is aware of how situations like this can be traumatic. It's part of the reason why the district quickly communicated to the learning community about what was going on.
"One of the real challenges is the rumors and we know that on social media right now that there are different rumors that are circulating. That's why it's so important for us to be able to communicate with our community about everything that we know, as soon as we know it," Ricca said.
Ricca told News 12 that the school day should be business as usual on Thursday.
He said additional support will be available for anyone who may need it.