AP: Teacher sues district for neglecting obvious warnings.
The article describes a principal ignoring numerous credible warnings about a student having a gun. A teacher was subsequently shoot at school.
Nothing about the article is surprising to a teacher. The dereliction of duty by the principal is shocking, but entirely routine. It is consistent with my experience at North Royalton High School.
A few years ago, around this time of year, I had a team competing in the FIRST Robotics Competition. It was a joint, NRHS/Gilmore Academy team, and we were at the CSU Convocation Center setting up for the competition.
Friday is setup and practice day. I had stopped at the school to pick up the school van and students. At about 8:30 am, I got a call from a school counselor. He asked if a particular student had arrived yet. He had not.
The counselor said that the student “has been having emotional issues”. On social media, the student had posted photos of guns he wanted to buy. The student was 18 years old, and no one knew if he had purchased other guns. Parents reported that the student had left the house and was driving to CSU for the competition. The counselor asked that when the student arrives, I should try to stay close to him and look for any sign that he had a firearm.
NRHS administrators did not want to notify CSU police because they feared a general evacuation would be called.
CSU is a 25 minute drive from the high school. Administrators felt that a phone call was sufficient action for a credible threat that a student was armed and in an arena of hundreds of other high school students.
The student did arrive, was wearing a light jacket, and not carrying anything. I was sitting in the stands adjacent to our pit area on the arena floor. I watched him as he came in. I did not see a print of a gun in his pocket, but pictured myself climbing over the rail to pancake him if necessary.
I went down to the pit to talk to our team and engage the student in light conversation to evaluate his demeanor. He seemed relaxed as I tried to subtly note locations of big wrenches, metal stock or any other improvised melee weapon with which I could bludgeon my student. He was a casual member of the team, but I gave him a team t-shirt and insisted as a part of the team, he should wear it. When he took off his jacket, I was reasonably sure that he wasn’t armed. His car was parked nearby, so that could change.
We needed some equipment from the high school to troubleshoot a problem. I have no idea about the confidentiality of a gun threat, but I was feeling unsupported and alone. I decided to share my information with the Gilmore Academy teacher. If I was running an errand, he was the adult in charge. The Gilmore teacher had more life experience and savvy than would be guessed from his age and easy-going nature.
When I got to the high school, I talked to the counselor, our SRO and administrators. The counselor was in over his head while the administrator looked at this like another day in the office. Not unlike the principal in the article. Our SRO is an experienced cop with good judgement. It was left to him and I to establish the credibility of the threat.
We didn’t think the guns he’d posted were what one would choose for a school shooting. We were both astonished at how dismissive administration was in handling the threat and their willingness to disengage from the situation.
I returned to the Convocation Center and the competition proceeded without incident. When the student returned home after a day with us, he was committed for a 3-day psychiatric watch.
How does an administrator manage the inconsistency? The administrator enjoys being in charge, but in a moment of crisis, relinquishes all authority. The credibility of the threat is irrelevant. A staff member was instructed to inform another staff member of a potentially deadly situation. Neither has the training, resources or authority to properly address the situation.
I trust my judgement, but have no idea how other teachers would handle this type of pressure.