43
Absenteeism triples at Boardman High after gun threat
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
Boardman police increased its presence at Boardman High School and Glenwood and Center middle schools Tuesday. The change was made after administrators discovered threats written on the wall of a boys restroom stall last Wednesday then heard rumors of a student planning to bring a gun to school Tuesday.
Photo
Mark Asher
By Elise Franco
Boardman
About 300 students were absent from Boardman High School on Tuesday after a threat against students spiraled into rumors of violence.
Frank Lazzeri, Boardman superintendent, said the high school and both middle schools had extra Boardman police officers on site Tuesday as a precaution after threats were found last Wednesday on the wall of a boys restroom stall.
“Whenever you receive a threat, whether it’s a hoax or something you have grounded information on, you have to do your due diligence to make sure your students and teachers are safe,” he said.
Sgt. Chuck Hillman, Boardman’s student resource officer, said two uniformed officers were placed at each of the two middle schools and four extra officers at the high school. Hillman and a full-time security guard were also at the high school.
Hillman said by Thursday rumors circulated that a student was planning to bring a gun to school after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
“We have not been able to, at this point, determine who put the writings on the bathroom wall or who may have made the comment about bringing a gun to school,” Hillman said.
Lazzeri said he hadn’t even heard the rumor of the gun until Monday.
“The social media, the Facebook and MySpace, the students use to communicate, so it’s sort of like the old game of telephone.” he said. “The story sort of spins and spins until you don’t recognize what was originally said.”
Lazzeri said Tuesday none of the school principals reported any problems Tuesday, but about 300 high school students stayed home.
“At the high school, there’s usually somewhere between 75 and 100 students absent out of 1,600,” he said. “Unfortunately [Tuesday] there was about three times that amount.”
The superintendent said the high number of absences “absolutely has to do with the rumors.”
Lazzeri said school officials and police continue to investigate, and whoever is responsible will be caught.
“When we find out who is responsible, they will be treated with the utmost discipline allowable by law and by board of education policy,” he said. “These sorts of things are crimes ... and are taken seriously.”
Lazzeri said it’s hard to tell why a student would make threats against fellow classmates and teachers.
“There could be a variety of reasons,” he said.
“It could come down to a student crying out for attention or a student trying to get back at another student he or she doesn’t like. But that doesn’t justify it.”