Threats by sex offender put Horace Mann on high alert

Horace Mann School has “dramatically” increased security following threats from a graduate who is a convicted sex offender, according to a letter sent to parents by Head of School Thomas Kelly on Sunday.

Threats against the school posted on social media prompted the measures, though the threats did not single out particular students or employees, Mr. Kelly wrote. The steps consist of more security personnel around arrival and dismissal times and “an additional level of training... specific to this situation and the individual involved.”

Horace Mann administrators did not return press inquiries. On a visit to the school at dismissal time Monday afternoon, security personnel had noticeably increased. 

“We’re always very vigilant,” said Peter Clancy, an assistant security manager at Horace Mann who confirmed that security had been increased. “Now especially.”

In an April 4 letter to members of the Fieldston Property Owners Assocation (FPOA), the president of the neighborhood’s private security company advised residents of a protest planned by Daniel Gruber, 36, in the neighborhood surrounding the school.

Mr. Gruber, the letter stated, was convicted in 2005 of endangering the welfare of a child and is a registered sex offender in New Jersey, where he currently resides.

A directory of Horace Mann alumni lists a 1997 graduate by the name of Daniel Gruber living in Englewood, New Jersey.

The protest, reportedly planned for April 6 at 2 p.m., was apparently canceled. FPOA and its security company did not return press inquiries. Arlene Feldmeir, the head of Community Board (CB) 8’s Public Safety Committee and a Fieldston resident, declined to comment.

Mr. Kelly’s letter to parents also mentions that the “Office of the Bronx District Attorney and the NYPD are investigating and working to respond to our concerns.”

“I can confirm that the matter has been referred to us,” a spokeswoman for the Bronx District Attorney wrote in an e-mail.

A community affairs spokesman for the 50th Precinct confirmed that the matter had also been referred to local police. But he said there was a limit to the role police could play in addressing parents’ concerns for their students’ safety.

“They’re a private school, so they have their own way of doing things. They don’t have to take our advice,” the spokesman said.

Both agencies said a formal investigation had not yet been opened. Parents, students and teachers questioned outside the school declined to comment for this article.