On November 4 at around 10:30 p.m., a break-in occurred at Haldane Campus’ Main Building, and on November 19, an arrest was made by the Putnam County Sheriff’s office, according to two announcements sent out to the Haldane Central School District by Superintendent Gail Duffy. According to Deputy Anthony Tolve, Haldane’s School Resource Officer, an individual breached the school through an undisclosed access point and entered the nurse’s office, retrieving prescription medication and exiting within the span of an hour.
In immediate response to the break-in, the Haldane administration got into contact with its longtime security advisor, Altaris Consulting Group, which performed a top-to-bottom security audit in December. Altaris is a private security firm whose founder and current CEO, John LaPlaca, has roots in law enforcement, serving as the Patrol Division Commander of the Yorktown Police Department as well as leading the Yorktown School Resource Officer (SRO) program. Altaris has assisted Haldane in security measures for well over 10 years. The results of their audit were returned to the Haldane administration in January.
In an interview with Dr. Duffy and Deputy Tolve about the incident and the audit, Duffy proclaimed that she viewed the burglary as a teaching moment for school security. She summarized the audit as highlighting “Where can we go back and look at what’s working really well, and where can we make things a little stronger.” Duffy described the work of Altaris as incredibly thorough, “We went, really, room by room, hallway by hallway, we checked out every nook and cranny here in the district to check out what feels really safe and secure, and where are those areas that we need to maybe tighten up.”
The upcoming capital project already includes updates to several security measures within the district, such as an update to current entryways and vestibules. In response to the burglary, however, updates to security in the nurses’ office required immediate action. Of the steps taken thus far, Tolve stated, “There were medications taken…but from that point on, the school has made extreme modifications to the medication’s security, and to having coded safes, and more of a robust security in regards to no one having access to them anymore.” Tolve confirmed that security has already been tightened in response to the incident. He stated, “The school took action immediately, like the following day.”
Although the physical security updates are part of updating the current system, Duffy emphasized that the school was also revising current safety procedures. She stated, “Since the break-in, we’ve done a lot of discussions with our administrators: let’s look at our safety protocols, let’s look at things like are we locking windows and doors…[and] where can we make sure we’re giving more clear direction to our staff to make sure we’re all being mindful of safety and security measures.”
The recent safety audit granted Superintendent Duffy some insight into how to upgrade the current Haldane security system. Speaking of the Altaris report, she said, “We’re going to start to look at: Are there other pieces that can make the building safer?” Giving one example, she noted, “we’re talking through, could we do a single point of entry after hours, so that would be a shift in our school community, but where can we make sure we just kinda have eyes on who’s coming in the building and who’s coming out of the building?”
When asked if the result of the audit had shifted the rate at which the already-planned upgrades in conjunction with the capital project were to be rolled out, Duffy stated, “We are still waiting on our state approval [for the capital project]. We’re very close to that, and so we should be breaking ground in late spring. What I’m asking our construction managers to look at is the scope of the project, and where they can do some of the safety procedures sooner, they will.” When asked if the new updates would impact the budget, Duffy confirmed that there would be minor changes to the current budget; however, most of the changes had already been financially taken care of. She stated, “Certain things will be added to the budget…[but] I think the biggest expense will be the vestibules and the camera system, upgrading those two pieces. I think if we institute a single point of entry after hours, we might be paying an adult to supervise a door, but that could be covered as a part of our current operating budget, so I don’t see other major expenses.”
The full impact of the proposed and soon-to-be-instituted security updates on safety and on student life at Haldane remains to be seen. However, Superintendent Duffy noted that the results in part will depend on the participation of the Haldane community. She stated, “I would say for you as a student and a message for all students, we’re all kinda in this together. It’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure if you see something that seems a little off, you say something.”
Deputy Tolve agreed, stating that our current system of an open campus necessitates a certain degree of student and community vigilance. “The difficult thing that the community has to understand is that we have to take certain actions and certain security protocols in order to keep a certain campus concept. Not a lot of schools that I know of have an open campus concept, and to keep an open campus concept, you have to tighten up,” he said.
Duffy likewise expressed her support for the open campus concept. She stated, “We love the open campus concept, so to me that’s not something that I’d ever want to not have here.”
“That’s what makes Haldane Haldane,” Tolve added.
Editor in Chief’s Note:
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the suspect arrested on November 19 is 19-year-old former Haldane Student Kristjan V. Holmbo. Further information regarding the break-in, as well as a transcript of Gail Duffy’s original statement, is available at The Highlands Current:
http://highlandscurrent.org/2025/11/2-/sheriff-makes-arrest-in-haldane-break-in/
