Hamilton County Board of Education mulls what is ‘valid threat’
(The Center Square) – A resolution that would allow school officials and law enforcement to determine what is a “valid threat” of mass violence to schools was pulled from a Tennessee school district’s agenda Thursday night.
A Hamilton County Board of Education member said a town hall meeting will be held on the issue next month.
Law enforcement and school officials should “be able to screen out threats made by students that do not constitute true, credible threats to security of the school and well-being of all students,” the resolution said. “Students who have not made valid, credible threats against the security of the school or the safety of their classmates are nevertheless being arrested and detained when these same students might not face discipline at school.”
Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill that makes threatening mass violence a felony offense. The resolution is not an effort to change state law or lower standards, said Dr. Justin Robertson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools.
“The trend is that we have middle school boys that are saying things that are obviously inappropriate, that obviously should be dealt with and we are dealing with them,” Robertson said. “But what we are also saying is we think there should be, working alongside law enforcement, working other law enforcement agencies, that when we have a student that did not make a valid threat, that there should should be the ability for discretion when choosing to charge that student with a felony.”
Several parents spoke to the board about school safety during its agenda session and some expressed concerns about the resolution.
Board member Ben Connor, who added the resolution to the agenda, withdrew it before the meeting began. He said he plans to hold a town hall-style meeting on Oct. 7.
“At the end of the day, I have four daughters in the Hamilton County schools and I made a promise to keep those four daughters and our students safe,” Connor said.
Hamilton County Schools have received 15 threats of mass violence since the start of the school year, spokesman Steve Doremus said in an email to The Center Square.
Hours before the start of the school board meeting, a 12-year-old student at Dalewood Middle School was charged with threat of mass violence on school property after standing up and saying she would “Kill everyone at her table,” according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. A possible threat at Central High School is under investigation.
Other Tennessee school systems are also reporting threats. On Sept. 11, Knox County schools received seven, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said.
