NASHUA -- All public schools in Nashua are closed Monday because of a threat of violence made to both city high schools, according to police.“We are really working from the perspective of caution,” Superintendent Mark Conrad told the New Hampshire Union Leader Sunday evening. “The Nashua Police Department is doing a great job -- they are working very hard to determine as much as they can.”Since police could not rule out that the threat was credible, Conrad said it was best to err on the side of caution and be able to reassure parents that their children are safe. The FBI is assisting in the investigation, according to a release from the governor.“We have received a detailed threat of violence to harm students and staff at both high schools,” Conrad said in a statement, adding the threat was targeted for Monday. “Because the threat is specific and extends to several schools, we will be cautious and close all of our public schools in Nashua (on Monday).”He explained that a school administrator received the threat, describing the level of detail in the threat as “especially concerning.”Automatic calls were being made to parents of the school district Sunday evening, notifying them of the threat and the cancellation. All after-school events have also been canceled.Nashua police said they received notification from the school district about a specific threat of violence directed towards both Nashua public high schools, police said in a statement issued about 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.According to the release, city police are working with the Nashua School District administration and several state and federal law enforcement agencies to determine the credibility of the threat.“At this time, the investigation remains open and ongoing,” said police.Conrad apologized to parents for the inconvenience, stressing that “safety must remain our first priority.” He expects school to be back in session on Tuesday.Kimberly Kleiner, a member of the Nashua Board of Education, said she has complete faith in the Nashua police force, and is confident they are taking the threat seriously and will solve the matter promptly.“I am a parent -- my daughter is a junior -- and like most parents, this is scary. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in,” Kleiner said on Sunday night. “I think Superintendent Conrad made the correct move in speaking with the chief. I support his decision in putting the safety of our children first.”Noting the school threats recently made in California and New York, Kleiner said it is unfortunate and sad that these incidents continue to disrupt the education of children. There will be 12,000 Nashua students not in the classroom on Monday, she explained.“We don't want mass hysteria, and we don't want parents to feel uncomfortable,” said Kleiner. “I feel for every Nashua parent out there tonight. It is concerning.”Kleiner said she spoke with her daughter about the threat, and said her child understands the situation and believes there is likely nothing behind the threat, but also understands that police and school officials must do their due diligence for the safety of everyone involved."Public safety is any government's most important responsibility -- especially at our schools -- and we are closely monitoring the situation in Nashua. I have been in contact with Mayor (Donnalee) Lozeau and the emergency operations center, and the State Police and state emergency management officials are working closely with the Nashua Police Department, local public safety officials and the FBI," Governor Maggie Hassan said in a statement. "We will continue to monitor the situation and work together at the state, local and federal levels to investigate the threat and keep our communities safe."khoughton@newstote.com ||||| Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 NASHUA, N.H. — Schools here were scheduled to reopen on Tuesday under a heightened police presence after being closed on Monday while law enforcement officials investigated a detailed threat that warned of violence to students and staff members at the district’s two high schools. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Even as the authorities sought to reassure Nashua on Monday that the schools were safe, some parents remained wary and said they would keep their children home on Tuesday. 
 
 The threat was the first here in a decade, but the latest in a string of scares for school districts from coast to coast that have spread fear and kindled a national debate about how schools should respond to such threats. 
 
 Last Tuesday, the nation’s largest school districts, New York and Los Angeles, each received a threat of a terrorist attack. New York City dismissed it as a hoax, but officials in Los Angeles abruptly shut down nearly 1,100 schools and asked parents to keep the district’s 640,000 children home. School officials in several other cities, including Dallas and Houston, also reported receiving threats last week, but did not close. None of the threats has proved credible. 
 
 The Nashua police chief, Andrew J. Lavoie, said at the news conference that investigators had determined after extensive searches that there was no “current, credible threat” to the schools. 
 
 “We had police bomb dogs, we had the national police department bomb unit there, we had state police and A.T.F. bomb canines assisting us,” Chief Lavoie said, referring to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “and literally hand checks of doors, windows at every school.” 
 
 The content of the threat was not released, and the police did not say whether it was connected to any of the threats elsewhere. 
 
 Mark Conrad, the superintendent of the Nashua School District, said he received an email threat on Sunday night that was specific enough for him to err on the side of caution and close the schools. 
 
 The email named the high schools, specified Monday’s date and specified the means by which the students would be harmed. 
 
 “The more specificity you have in a threat, the more concerned you have to be about it, and this was a very specific threat,” Mr. Conrad said. He did not describe the means of harm contained in the threat. 
 
 While the threats were aimed at the two high schools, he closed all of the district’s 17 schools, affecting 11,400 students and employees. The Catholic schools in Nashua were also closed. 
 
 Mr. Conrad explained that decision by pointing to “the anxiety level” caused by “everything going on in our society and the level of violence in different school communities and in communities in general.” 
 
 He added: “It was clear to me that, had we held school in our other schools, we would have had a very high rate of absenteeism, we would have had a high level of anxiety in the community. This way, we could say every child is safe today, and we can make up that instructional time through another day later in the year.” 
 
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 The district made 14,000 automated calls on Sunday night alerting parents and others to the threat and the school closings, sending a wave of concern throughout this city of nearly 87,000 people in southern New Hampshire. 
 
 Mr. Conrad said he was confident that the schools were safe. Principals, guidance counselors and psychologists would be prepared to deal with students who might feel anxious on Tuesday, he said. But he also acknowledged that some parents might want to keep their children at home this week and said they would be listed as “an excused absence.” 
 
 Sonia Prince, 43, the mother of two high school students and one in middle school, said she found little reassurance in the authorities’ statements and was leaning toward keeping her children home for the rest of the week; classes were set to end Wednesday for the winter break. 
 
 “They didn’t say they had anybody in custody,” Ms. Prince said. “They said ‘no credible threat,’ but they’re beefing up security. I don’t know if they’re under pressure to open school because some parents can’t stay home with their kids, but I think they need more time.” 
 
 But Susanne Eaton, an educator and the mother of a fifth grader, said she and her daughter would both return to school on Tuesday. 
 
 “I had a co-worker call me tonight — she’s kind of afraid to come back to work,” Ms. Eaton said. But she said she did not want to live in fear, noting: “There are risks every day in life.”
– All public schools in Nashua, NH, will be closed Monday after what Superintendent Mark Conrad describes as a "detailed threat of violence to harm students and staff" at both of the city's high schools. The school district made 14,000 automated phone calls Sunday evening to inform parents of the closure, WMUR reports. "I regret any difficulties this creates for working parents but safety must remain our first priority," Conrad, who expects schools to reopen on Tuesday, said in a statement. Gov. Maggie Hassan says state officials are working closely with Nashua police and the FBI, per WMUR. "We are really working from the perspective of caution," the superintendent tells the New Hampshire Union Leader, adding that police are doing a "great job" in trying to determine where the threat came from and whether it's credible. He says the amount of detail in the threat, which was received by a school administrator, is "especially concerning." It's not clear whether the New Hampshire threat is linked to those that were received by school districts across the country and shut down all Los Angeles-area schools for a day last week. Those threats have been traced to an email service that doesn't keep any information on users.