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Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Report: Third-grader threatened to kill teacher

A third-grade student at Tucker Elementary School brought a knife to school and threatened a teacher Sept. 18, according to an incident report filed with the Perry Police Department.

Principal Kim Halstead filed the incident report Sept. 21. On a tip, a teacher discovered the student brought a paring knife to school in a bookbag Sept. 18.

“The incident was handled in-house,” the report said, and Halstead also notified the school board of the matter.

On Sept. 30, the teacher filed a supplemental report that included a more detailed narrative of the incident. On Sept. 18, two other students told the teacher that the student showed them a knife, said she was going to kill the teacher, cut off students’ heads, cut out other students’ eyes and eat them. After the student made the threat, a knife was found in the student’s personal belongings.

According to the report, the teacher said the student had been placed in an alternative school for 30 to 45 days.

Disciplinary action has been taken through the school, said Capt. Jerry Stewart of the Houston County Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Division, and the student has been referred to the Division of Family and Children Services for counseling. Stewart could not confirm whether the student was in alternative school.

There have been 12 weapon incidents, all involving knives, in Houston County schools this school year, according to school board records. During the 2008-09 school year, there were 10 knife incidents, as well as two fireworks incidents and two additional weapons incidents.

While school board staff would not comment directly about specific disciplinary cases under Family Education Rights and Privacy Act guidelines, both Superintendent David Carpenter and Robin Hines, assistant superintendent for school operations, said students who bring weapons to schools are subject to disciplinary action under the board’s weapons policy, as well as federal Gun-Free School Act requirements.

Students in violation are subject to “a one-year expulsion from school, exception that the Board of Education may modify the expulsion requirement for good cause on a case-by-case basis,” according to the board’s weapons policy.

In weapons cases involving knives, only the parents of students directly involved are notified of the incident. With gun incidents, however, all students and parents are notified through the school’s phone system, Carpenter said.

Cases involving elementary school students are presented to a student review committee, consisting of people such as hearing officers, contractual workers, retired educators and principals, said Hines.

At the middle and high school level, students are subject to a tribunal at the board’s central office, with board attorney Jeffrey Grube serving as the hearing officer.

“A hearing officer, tribunal, panel, superintendent, or the board of education shall be authorized to place a student determined to have brought a weapon to school in an alternative educational setting,” the policy says.

“If a child brings a weapon to school, we follow policy,” Carpenter said.

To contact Andrea Castillo, call 256-9751.