Update: Tuesday, 10:47 a.m. Waynesboro Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Ryan N. Barber told AFP that the statement sent to parents and teachers was from Greg Harris, principal of Westwood Hills, yesterday afternoon.
The full statement from Harris: “This afternoon our staff was made aware of a student notebook containing threats towards other students.
“Immediately our staff began the threat assessment process and are working with the families of students that wrote the note to provide the support they need.
“The safety of our students is of utmost importance and when students behave this way we follow our procedures and provide appropriate consequences. As always, our staff is here to support you and answer any questions you may have.”
Barber told AFP there will be no further comment on this student disciplinary matter.
Parents reported receiving an automated call with the message.
Original story, posted Monday, 5:37 p.m. A student at Westwood Hills Elementary School in Waynesboro allegedly came to school with something other than textbooks and gym clothes: they carried a notebook with a kill list.
The list allegedly had the names of teachers and other students, a source told AFP.
Waynesboro Schools addressed the matter in a message to the school community today, saying that staff was made aware of a student notebook “containing threats toward other students.”
Not all parents received the message, but word has gotten around, and not surprisingly, parents and the Westwood Hills Elementary School community are worried and angry.
“Parents are concerned, not only with the direction of public education, but the safety of our kids and the softness of society that has infiltrated our schools,” one parent wrote to AFP.
“What are the schools going to do about this incident? When will they start putting their foot down and stop with little slaps on the wrist. Will this kid be back in three days? What are the schools so afraid of?
“There should be zero tolerance for anything like this, and I hope the schools take the opportunity to send a stern message that this has no place in our community,” they said. “And what about the teachers that had to deal with this incident? What about the kids who may have heard? We must not forget them either.
“We are facing so many issues in this country, and common sense seems to elude us often. I sympathize with the issues schools are facing, but it does not free them from making the tough decisions that are imperative to a fruitful future.”
A similar incident occurred in the city at Berkeley Glenn Elementary School last February when a fourth-grade student admitted to having a “kill list.” The child’s bookbag was allegedly searched, but no weapon was found. The child was removed from the classroom for approximately one week, a parent told AFP, before returning to the classroom with the child they had threatened.
ICYMI
A threat assessment is under way in reference to the incident today. No weapons were involved.
The school system employs behavioral analysts, psychologists, social workers, counselors and emotional learning educators.
The school system is working to provide support as needed for the situation.
“The safety of our students is utmost importance and when students behave this way we follow our procedures and provide appropriate consequences. As always our staff is here to support you and answer any questions you may have.”
Virginia Public Schools are mandated by law to have assessment teams in place to determine the seriousness of threats and the risk the student poses in potentially harming others.
ICYMI
UVA professor and school safety expert Dewey G. Cornell, Ph.D., previously told AFP that schools are much safer than the public perceives. While a “kill list” sounds intimidating, Cornell said that research shows it is common for elementary school students to make threats to kill someone, and nearly all of these threats are not serious. Threats to kill are more common in elementary schools than secondary schools but rarely lead to anything more serious than a fight, he said.
“It is understandable that a parent would be concerned if their child was threatened, and they did not know what happened in response,” Cornell, the director of the Virginia Youth Violence Project, said. “We recommend that schools share information with all parents who have students involved in a threat incident.
“In most cases, a threat by an elementary school student is not serious and can be handled with discipline and counseling,” he said.
ICYMI
Dr. Amy Klinger told AFP that in addition to punishment, the school administration should look at a long-term support plan for troubled students.
“The school has to walk the line between we don’t want a kid to be condemned for the rest of their school career because of one action when they were quite young and unable to really see the consequences of that,” Klinger, the co-founder of the Educator’s School Safety Network, told AFP last year.
Attorney: Safety ‘needs to be the most important thing schools do’
A former Newport News elementary school teacher, Abigail “Abby” Zwerner, was recently awarded $10 million in a civil lawsuit against a vice principal after she was shot by a student in 2023. The troubled 6-year-old boy allegedly retrieved a gun from his mother’s purse and brought it to school in his backpack. He had just returned from a suspension for slamming the teacher’s phone.
Attorney Jeffrey Breit spoke outside the courthouse saying the verdict sends a clear message to schools in America.
“It needs to be the most important thing schools do — taking care of the teachers and safety of our students.”
Related stories
- Verdict: Virginia teacher shot by student awarded $10M in civil trial
- Toolkit released to guide schools in training, implementation and evaluation of threats
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Crystal Graham
