BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Around 9 a.m. Thursday morning, all three schools at the Wood Road Complex- Wood Road, Milton Terrace, and Gordon Creek- in Ballston Spa were placed on lockdown. A report was made concerning the sounds of fireworks being heard in the area west of the school complex.

School Resources Officers (SROs) and law enforcement quickly responded and investigated the report, and checked each building before allowing the students to enter them. Those already in the buildings were asked to shelter in place and those not in the buildings were redirected until the buildings were cleared by law enforcement.

“We received reports from several faculty in my building and in an adjacent building that they heard popping noises. It could have been fireworks. They weren’t sure. It was right at the start of our morning arrival and drop off. So out of an abundance of caution and in light of everything that has happened, we decided to go into a lock down even though we were only really locking-down staff,” says Anders Rasmussen, principal at Wood Road Elementary.

The morning routines for drop-off were disrupted for about an hour, and students were held in buses until they were cleared to enter the building. All schools were cleared around 10 a.m. “We were not notified that there would be fireworks so that was cause for concern,” says Rasmussen.

An individual with the golf course, the Ballston Spa Country Club, tells NEWS10 the ordeal was a “complete misunderstanding”. Principal Rasmussen says he is grateful for the quick response from first responders, “just the professionalism that they showed to keep our kids safe and the way our staff responded as well from all buildings, not just the ones who were impacted but from across the district to support the students who weren’t on-site. To support our folks here and ensure that we were able to get our kids back in and be as minimally impacted from something that is pretty scary.”

Superintendent Ken Slentz of the Ballston Spa Central School District said that they know how these types of events can be very upsetting, and parents who choose to do so can pick up their child early from school today. Parents will just have to follow the typical school sign-out procedures in doing so.