The note was found Wednesday afternoon in a bathroom at DHS by a student and brought to administrators’ attention.  Unlike a previous note found exactly one week earlier in another bathroom of the school, this one had more threatening language, leading administrators to take a more serious stance on what they previously saw as a “peer relation problem.”

On Friday, DHS Principal John McCarthy said that the latest note contained the same list of 9th grade students as the one found on January 7, with the addition of one new name.  McCarthy was tight lipped on the exact language of the note, but did say that it was more serious, threatening death to those whose names were included in the text.

In reaction to the note, McCarthy authored a one-page letter for students at all of the town’s schools that was mailed home to all families as opposed to the previous method of handing them to students to bring home, employed not only after the last note in January, but also three other anonymous threats last October.

“We chose this method of delivery because, especially with students at the high school level, there is a large chance that these notes are not reaching home,” McCarthy said.  “Add to the fact that this is the third or fourth time we’ve [written a letter in response] and they may just dismiss it and not bother to give it to parents.”

McCarthy said that the letters were mailed to families on Thursday at the expense of the school department.

In the letter, McCarthy’s tone is much different than in previous communications as proven in a passage where he asks parents to envision their child as one on the list.

“I would ask you to put yourself in the place of one of these parents,” the letter reads.  “Put your child’s name in this sentence;  ë____ will be killed.’  How would you feel and react to this?”

McCarthy acknowledged the stronger tone of his words, saying it was designed to “kick up” the message delivered to parents.

“That sentence was not used in the note found Wednesday but I wanted to draw out that this is serious stuff and not a generic threat,” he said.  “This may be a small group of students [named in the note] versus the available populationÖbut think of the impact on that child, that parent if they are on that list.  That’s what I wanted to do and hopefully someone comes forward with information.”

The note also addresses what McCarthy calls an “internal lockdown mode” at the school, which includes locking bathrooms during classtime and asking teachers to restrict movement of students during class time.  The pending lockdown has also hurt the “Bread Board” at the school, said McCarthy which has “all but shut down” because it can’t make deliveries to students.

“We have what I’d call a relaxed environment at the school and now we can’t have it that relaxed,” said McCarthy.  “One reason we are doing this is to give the students on the noteÖpeace of mind that someone is paying attention.”

McCarthy said the other reason for the restrictions was the hope that someone would come forward with information on the note’s author.  He said the school will remain in lockdown mode until further notice, but that administrators are looking for someone to step forward with information on who is responsible.

“We’re doing this partly to send a message to students that to have a relaxed atmosphere, we can’t have anymore threats,” he said.

McCarthy added that he is a firm believer that there are those who know about the notes and their origin.

“I believe there is more than one person who knows where these notes may have come from so we will try and reach out to someone who has heard something who can say ëenough is enough’ and tell an adult, including a parent,” he said.

The latest threat has also brought with it a greater presence of Duxbury police officers at the school, according to McCarthy and Lt. Chip Chubb of the Duxbury Police Department.

Chubb acknowledged more patrols at the school on Wednesday and Thursday and said investigations are underway on both the most recent note as well as the one found on January 7.  He said that both notes found this month were sent to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department to be studied.  According to Chubb, if an author is identified, that individual could face charges of threatening to commit a crime, a misdemeanor, and making a terrorist threat, which is a felony.

McCarthy said that on Thursday morning, school officials met with a large group of the students listed in the note and their parents to hear their concerns and inform them on the steps the school and police are taking as a result.

As opposed to the previous note where McCarthy said parents seemed not too alarmed, the more serious language in the one found Wednesday has brought increased concern.

“I’d say for the most part these parents are anxious, but we had a good meeting,” he said.

McCarthy did say that at the request of these parents, a K9 was brought into the school last week to sniff for gun powder or any other weapons.

School Committee Chairwoman Carol Love said Friday that her group has confidence in the work by both school administrators and police to find a resolve to these incidents.

“[The committee has] confidence in the joint efforts of high school administrators and Duxbury police that together, they will discover the authors of these notes and that the disruption and anguish caused, especially to underclassmen, will come to an end,” she said.

Love added that having Student Resource Officer Friend Weiler in the building has been a “tremendous asset to the school climate” and that the committee supports DHS administrators’ decision to secure and tighten areas the building as they see fit.

If anyone has information on either note found at DHS, they are asked to call Duxbury police at 934-5656 or the DHS office at 934-7650.