Wallkill has a seat on anti-terrorism task force

- Alberto Gilman
Posted 11/1/22

The Wallkill Board of Education received an update on Wednesday, October 19 from Wallkill Superintendent Kevin Castle on the work and progress conducted for the Ulster County Task Force, a safety …

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Wallkill has a seat on anti-terrorism task force

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The Wallkill Board of Education received an update on Wednesday, October 19 from Wallkill Superintendent Kevin Castle on the work and progress conducted for the Ulster County Task Force, a safety program created through an executive order by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul.

According to Castle, this team was created as a result of the shooting that took place in Buffalo at Tops Supermarket. The executive order had stated that all counties had to create and form a domestic terrorism task force. A recent meeting with the program members was intended to create a crisis threat assessment team countywide.

“I have been asked to represent school districts in Ulster County, I am part of that task force,” said Castle. “We have our own crisis teams within our own buildings and this will be an extra layer that we can consult with this crisis team.”

Castle stated that this program will help in the proactive approach to identifying members of the student population and public who may have mental health needs and the team can address those to prevent any threats from happening. The creation of this team is not limited to the school district but will be accessible to all districts and organizations across the county and future meetings will be addressing team protocols, team communication and other related details.

The Ulster County Boards of Cooperative Educational Services [BOCES] program was able to secure a grant that will be used for training all Ulster County schools and educators. More updates from Castle and the team will be provided to the public and board members as the work progresses over time.

“I advocated for this about four or five years ago. But it stalled because there was no funding. So now, there is funding,” Castle stated. “It’s, it’s something that our county and other counties in New York need to do, and I’m glad that we’re moving forward with this.”