Legal right to be informed? (threats of school shooting)

[HSteacher1]

I would be concerned, truly I would. However, what do you want us to say? You have a choice to make. Do what you think is right, and risk your job/license, or let the administration handle it. It's up to you.

I do want to note that the principal isn't making the decision about expulsion if it's going to the board.


ETA: One more thing... If the student is intent on "shooting up the school," he doesn't have to be in it to do so.

People have already said useful things, like discussing whether FERPA is a factor or not in this situation. That's why I came here, for that sort of information. I'm also interested if anyone knows anything about what's legal in terms of having a safe work environment, as that pertains to this situation.

The principal is not making the final decision about expulsion but he is making the decision of whether to recommend an expulsion hearing or not. If he decides not to, it never goes to the board.

I agree on your point about the student not having to be in the school to attack it, but right now, while he is on suspension, if I spot him through my window approaching the building, I can call 911 immediately and evacuate or hide my students. If he's brought back as a student, he'll walk onto campus every day, and every day I'll wonder if today he has a gun in his pocket.

 

[I'mTheFather]

You said this:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

We've had a student threaten to come and shoot up the school (twice). He's currently suspended, and there will be an expulsion hearing. However, the administrator 1) is refusing to inform staff who are likely to see this student should he come on campus during his suspension and 2) is making it sound like expulsion is an unlikely outcome. A colleague and I intend to write letters and would like to inform parents so they can participate in the board meeting which would have to take place if the student is to be expelled. The administrator says this would violate the student's confidentiality (the student made the threats in two separate classrooms in front of student both times) and that we cannot inform the parents. He has also told another teacher not to inform staff members. This administrator has a track record of errors when it comes to laws and state requirements for things, so I don't want to take him at his word.

Do staff members have a legal right to know if a student has made terroristic threats?
Do parents have a right to know if the peer of one of their children has threatened to shoot up the school?

Thank you for your responses.

Now, you're waffling on the hearing.

 

[HSteacher1]

Because that's his job. It's not yours.

So when a manager makes a bad call that endangers his staff, everyone should go with it because he was doing his job?

 

[I'mTheFather]

You also said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

He has also told another teacher not to inform staff members. This administrator has a track record of errors when it comes to laws and state requirements for things, so I don't want to take him at his word.

Do staff members have a legal right to know if a student has made terroristic threats?
Do parents have a right to know if the peer of one of their children has threatened to shoot up the school?

Thank you for your responses.

But then, you also said this:

But at the staff meeting no one said, "Well, he has an IEP so..." as they would in other situations regarding students with IEPs.

Sounds like the staff was informed at the staff meeting.

 

[HSteacher1]

You said this:



Now, you're waffling on the hearing.

Not waffling. I was unclear. There's what the principal called the meeting he's going to have with the parents again on Monday a "hearing" and I used the same word to refer to that and to refer to when the board would evaluate the expulsion, I think. So I apologize for making things confusing. What is going to happen Monday is the meeting with the parents, what the principal calls a "hearing." What may or may not happen based on the principal's recommendation after that meeting is the board's evaluation.

 

[I'mTheFather]

You know what? You asked questions. Those questions were answered. The only thing left to do is to make your decision. There's nothing else we can do for you here except argue, and that doesn't change anything.

 

[HSteacher1]

You also said:


But then, you also said this:


Sounds like the staff was informed at the staff meeting.

At the staff meeting every teacher said what they thought about the situation, and then the principal proceeded to shut down any suggestion that the student should be expelled, and told us we would not be informed of the outcome of his meeting with the parents, nor would we be told if there is going to be a board meeting.

 

[I'mTheFather]

Okay, one last suggestion for you. Go to the board yourself. I can guarantee you that if the police were called, and they investigated, the board is fully aware of the situation. But, if you want to be sure, go to the board. Call a board member tonight. Call anonymously if you like.

 

[HSteacher1]

You know what? You asked questions. Those questions were answered. The only thing left to do is to make your decision. There's nothing else we can do for you here except argue, and that doesn't change anything.

I'm sorry I'm annoying you, I find discussing this helpful to me. I can sit and stew by myself and wonder if I'm crazy or if the right thing to do is x, y or z. Or I can try to hash it out on a forum like this one, where people have provided useful links and helpful advice. I get that you want me to just stop talking about it now, but the fact is I'm getting urged by one person to notify the media, with the implication that I'm a moral coward if I don't, and I'm getting snark from another person who doesn't seem to think I have any right to do anything in this situation, despite the way it impacts me personally. So I do feel the need to respond, and plus it helps me think things through when I do so. Please feel free to go about your Saturday if you've had enough of me, however.

 

[I'mTheFather]

Have at it, then.

 

[HSteacher1]

Okay, one last suggestion for you. Go to the board yourself. I can guarantee you that if the police were called, and they investigated, the board is fully aware of the situation. But, if you want to be sure, go to the board. Call a board member tonight. Call anonymously if you like.

I am equally convinced that the board knows absolutely nothing about this, and if they get any information on it once the principal decides to rug sweep it, it will be packaged in a palatable way. So my contacting a board member will be very much seen in the same light as my telling anyone else, such as a staff member, about this. I'm not saying I won't call a board member, because I had thought of that as a possibility as well. But it's going to anger the principal just as much if not more than my telling anyone else. I'm definitely planning to talk to the superintendent about the situation, as well, and the principal will no doubt be livid about that, but I feel like I have to appeal to the superintendent in this situation because maybe he'll see it as dangerous as I do (and my colleagues do) and realize it's not something that can be brushed off the way the principal wants to.

 

[cbg]

who doesn't seem to think I have any right to do anything in this situation,

Legally you don't.

 

[CdwJava]

*IF* I go to the local paper about this, I would not use the student's name.

Okay ... but, you might cause some undue hysteria and panic parents and students when this is not necessary. You can create a situation where ne'er-do-well students make up excuses not to go to school, parents are unduly terrified, and the administration becomes paralyzed through a barrage of concerned parents, news media inquiry, and student concerns. I don't see what good can come of that.

Best bet would be to go through the administration or your union so that you do not get scapegoated or create a perception of fear when one should not exist.

The rest I've already covered here--basically the principal is talking like expulsion isn't going to happen.

Of course, that's not up to him, so he may have some insight as to the decision of the school board on this or similar matters. It could also be there are some mitigating factors.

The "threat" that you stated the student said was certainly worthy of reporting and investigating, but it does not sound as if it is credible enough to warrant any specific criminal offense, nor is it likely to clearly justify an expulsion. But, the facts and the student's history would all have to be considered.

The main teacher and the teacher in charge both don't think the kid would actually do it, so they aren't in favor of expulsion. My colleague who was there for the second threat does think he would act on it, and so does another teacher who used to have the student last year.

Of course, the legal requirement for expulsion or criminal charges is more than thinking he MIGHT do it.

What it comes down to for me is the student made the threat twice, both times saying directly that *he* wants to "shoot up the school." At this point I and several other teachers and staff are experiencing fear about him carrying it out, and we are afraid for the safety of students and staff and for our own safety.

Then this is an issue to raise with administration and your union rep. If you have a legitimate fear, then any action you take (like not going to work) would have to be supported by your union.

Statistically, a student who publicly makes such a threat is not likely to carry it out. It's the student who speaks of this to a small group of friends, posts it on social media, and actively engages in planning that is more likely to be a threat than the guy who makes an outburst in the hallway.

I don't think he has an IEP. I know how IEPs can complicate things, believe me. But at the staff meeting no one said, "Well, he has an IEP so..." as they would in other situations regarding students with IEPs.

He may still have one. He may not. Either way, from what you have written here, he does not appear to be a likely candidate to commit an act of school violence. But, I have even less info than you do, and we both have less info than the police and the school administration who have all apparently deemed this to me non-criminal and, it appears, not a credible and imminent threat.