Parents say school isn't doing enough to protect kids from threat
SHERWOOD, Ore. - Two families with kids at a Sherwood school say a student's threats against their children went largely ignored and they are now taking legal action.
They believe these threats were taking place at Sherwood Charter School and are putting the safety of all the students in jeopardy.
In one case, a set of parents says the child said he was going to kill their son then later proceeded to stab that boy with a pencil. In another incident, the same child's accused of telling a girl student, he was going to rape her.
The parents at the Sherwood Charter School alleging these things are frustrated enough they've hired an attorney.
"How many times have we witnessed tragedies at schools across this country - Columbine, Sandy Hook, Thurston High School here in Oregon - where after the fact it is discovered that the student responsible for the tragedies had made threats of violence against fellow students, or against the school as a whole," wrote attorney Ross Day in a letter to the superintendent of the school district and chair of the school board.
In his letter, Day says that some parents were told the child who is allegedly making the threats has a disability and the school can't discipline the child. But Day argues that if the child is a "clear and present danger to his fellow students" action can be taken regardless if he has special needs.
The parents are demanding the Sherwood School Board take action to protect students and staff from a known danger.
In both instances, the families with the students, who felt threatened, have taken their kids out of the school.
They're upset the child in question remains a student there.
"At first I thought my son was embellishing, because adolescent boys sometimes embellish their stories, but when I went to go pick up my children from school, I saw that child in question stomping violently and angrily toward two female students, confronting them, saying he was going to punch them in the face," said one of the parents alleging the threats are being made and who didn't want his identity revealed. "He was red in the face. (He) meant what he said."
The parents say the student was kept out of school for three days in November while the school director conducted a threat assessment. But they say neither set of parents was interviewed for that assessment.
A spokesperson for the school district says at this time the district does not have any comment about these allegations. The parents say they're thinking about suing.
The school did release a statement where it said student safety is its No. 1 priority.
"At all times, Sherwood Charter School acted with student safety as a foremost concern, and will continue to do so in the future," said Keith Halasy, who is on the school's board of directors.
The school said it has "appropriately handled student safety and discipline issues."
Like I said before- there are people who are involved with the situation and even the alleged accuser commenting on this thread. Besides, you can't jump to conclusions when you don't have the facts- this article had no facts, just a statement that was proven exaggerated and illegitimate by the DOJ.Â
http://www.oregonlive.com/sherwood/index.ssf/2013/03/sherwood_parents_intend_to_fil.html
Before any one jumps to conclusions about this "out of control" special needs student, take a moment and look at the fact that only ONE family has came forward. Â This situation is simply one parent (who is rumored to be banned from school property and is a KNOWN bully to the community and school) that did not get their way.Â
This special needs student is not out of control, and the claims are exaggerated. There was one situation that was investigated and proved not legitimate over a 3 day period. There was a 3 day suspension for the alleged bully. The school, parents, students, etc moved on from this situation because it was handled properly.
Why is only this one  family coming forward if this was such an issue?Â
Perhaps a little off topic, but every time I read something like this, I think of vouchers. Â Vouchers and school choice would allow parents the freedom to school their children as best for their particular needs. Â Parents could remove their children from dangerous situations. Â Children with special needs, on either end of the scale get the environment that's best for them. Â Schools would have to actually compete. Â Quality of education goes up, those that can't compete go away. Â Everyone wins.
@'CouvGuy Read the story, the problem was at a charter school, not a public school subject to the rules of the community via the publicly elected school board. You need to take it up with the board of directors of this private institution.
@dynamited77 @'CouvGuy I did read the story, which is why I started my post with "Perhaps a little off topic...".  This is an unfortunate situation, and it's good the parents have a choice.  Vouchers are still the answer.  I don't need to take anything up with anyone because my kids are long out of public schools.
Easy to see the problem. The child "has disability and the school can't discipline the child". Hayday! He knows, he can do anything he wants and, no one can do anything! Well, there is a lot that can be done. Extra work, loss of priviledges, in-school suspension, to name a few. If the parents can't deal with it, take the kid out of public school and homeschool them. My guess is, they don't want too, because the kid can't be disciplined there either, and has turned into an out of control 'monster'.
@FireEyes you have no idea how wronge you really are. This "child" is absolutly not the way you imagined him to be. He is  a kind boy who is a just like allthe other kids his age, he just has a little  extra pep in his step. He is a smart boy,and in my opinion well aware of the consequences for breaking rules. He does not get out of control ,nor does he think that his parents will not reprimand him when needed. He is nothing like you have described.
Why must we dumb down schools (and society) to the lowest common denominator. I'm sorry about your kid but if he (or she) cannot conform to basic rules without disrupting others, he (or she) shouldn't be allowed to drag down the rest of the class. Odd how we didn't seem to have these issues 40 years ago. Administrators still had common sense (and a big wooden paddle - with holes) and parents were allied with teachers and (gasp) actually parented.
@Conspirator It was not just the paddle, but the entire educational system that has gone down hill. With things like no child left behind and the recurrent reliance on teacher evaluations over outcomes, it is more important that you are liked and pass students than if you teach. This goes for colleges/universities as well. I have been in both public and private undergraduate and graduate classes, and can see the same thing. "Oh 4-5 page paper is kind of long professor. Oh okay, well make it 3-4 pages than". I mean really, if you can't hack it get out of the kitchen. I was in grade school in the mid 80s and learned to read with phonics. For some reason they took that out of most schools and now most high school graduates cannot read their way out of an open paper bag. Coincidence? I doubt it, especially when you can buy and use the same concept from a company on tv and get results.
@Conspirator That's right, I say beat them with a stick, ale Taliban.
@Conspirator I don't know about 40 years ago (being 2 years old at the time) but 25 years ago these issues definitely DID exist. I was bullied for months on end at the junior high where I went. I even had a classmate who took her own life at the age of 14 in a situation where bullying was certainly a factor. The difference seems to be that these days people are taking more notice.
The issue is that the kid has a mental disability and the parents need to keep him out of school - period. Â I can't imagine having to raise an out of control, violent child and I feel for the parents but it isn't society's responsibility to try and take a mentally ill person into the general population and pretend that everything will be okay because it won't. Â It sounds like this kid is a ticking time bomb and he needs to be dealt with.
@Twinksmom Since the 1960s when they fought to deinstitutionalize mental health issues, it is society's problem to deal with these individuals and find ways to coexist with them. I cannot help but think there is more to this story than we are being told, and to automatically assume that a child who is mentally ill belongs in a special place is ridiculous. He may need more care and special classes, but does not deserve to be locked away simply because.
@Willow @TwinksmomNEVER did I say he should just be locked up.  I happen to have a mentally ill family member and I had to go to great lengths to ensure that this person was no longer a danger to themself or to society.  If you ever have to deal with mental illness in your family you will see things as they are and that is that nobody can or will help you.  The "system" is not set up to help families with mentally ill family members.  It is completely up to the parents to handle it.  Sure, they can go to all of the support groups they can, go to counselors, consult professionals up the wazoo but when all is said and done nobody can do more than they can. Â
@Twinksmom @Willow He IS NOT mentally ill!!!! where are you getting that?
@Willow @Twinksmom ~  Although I fully agree with you about just locking these kids up to "get them out of the way", I have serious doubts that this "mainstreaming" idea is the best solution, either... Kids vary so widely in their abilities, personalities, and backgrounds... and it just doesn't seem to be a good use of our educational resources to teach to, as they say,  the lowest common denominator...
Kids with consistent behavioral issues, if these issues cannot be resolved by conventional / reasonable disciplinary means, should be in special-ed classes where there is more supervision, and where they are not disrupting students who are trying to learn... Certainly. any student who physically attacks another - or threatens such an attack - should be dealt with immediately and seriously. Â Â
I'm not sure about this particular story; I have the feeling that there's more to it than just what is reported here...so the comments in my post are of a "general" nature...
@Twinksmom
Really twinksmom you were able to deduce all that from this article?
@vtnative65 @Twinksmom Really vtnativ65. Â
@Twinksmom @vtnative65 yes...... Twinks . Yes really.
Awesome metal roof!
@Ramona lol
@the rover OK Rover, it's time to quit playing with the computer, mommy needs to change your diaper. LoLÂ
If a kid said he would rape my daughter. I would rip his head off and SH** down his throat.
@Woot That was never even threatened.
@Woot
Careful Woot that could be construed as a death threat.
@Woot Because that would be the reasonable and adult way to respond.  Plus, in no way would your violent response send the message that the way to handle problems is through violence.  Good move.  You're about as stable as the kid making the threats.
@Twinksmom @Woot Simply said, violence is the solution to all problems.
@dynamited77 @Twinksmom @Woot Evolve dynamited77. Â
@Woot sounds like he is either repeating the video game or the rapper hate songs.
@Ramona this is so sad. Your so wrong.
@Ramona lol
Schools generally circle the wagons and try to avoid doing the necessary but unpleasant. In general, they can be reluctant to report threats, assaults and other crimes. The rationale, when they're called out, is that they have to try to educate everyone. But public safety needs to be a priority in my opinion.
"adolescent boys sometimes enhance their stories..." Â And the girls do not??? Â Anyway, this is what has become of our non parented kids who are raised without discipline, consistent rules, respect for authority and absolute right and wrong as determied by God, not someboard of humanist phsychologists atheists and sex pervert teachers. Â It takes a village because the heterosexual traditional family is scoffed at and ridiculed by the enemies of Judeochristian culture of western civilization that must step aside now for the final global empire of man.Â
@Ramona You would fit right in at Westboro Baptist. Please consider buying yourself a plane ticket to Kansas ASAFP. You are probably also one of those nut jobs that believe that by March 23 we are all going to be microchipped in the name of Obamacare.
Ramona, don't take it personally. The parents were taking about their own son. That is why they were so 'gender specific'.
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@feral lol
@feral @Ramona Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. The animals were repeatedly sacrificed. Jesus was once and for all. Grace free gift to us but gift was pai
d for by His blood.
@feral lolx2
@Witness @Ramona Not an appeasement a substitute who died in our place to give us life and restore us from the fall. You are no doubt thinking about pagan volcano gods. The wages of sin is death. For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not die but have eternal life.
@feral @Ramona Jesus came to save sinners no one else. But He does not force like the IRS. Good night Feral.
@Ramona So...God the Father could only be appeased by the torture and death of his son? How odd is THAT! And how vain is it that God demands worship?
 BTW, it may surprise you but wild children have always been among us. Tommy Jefferson complained about the vandals and drunks in the U of Va.
Well as a parent I know the public schools are far from perfect.  So we dealt with the situation by sending our son to PCC to get his GED, which he is almost done with.  Not to mention he went from way below his grade lvl to almost college lvl in a matter of a few months.   I would have to say that says a lot about our public school systems, and its not good.   But the straw that broke the camels back was when a kid knocked my son down the the ground and punched him in the stomach and the school said it was just horse play.   I don't call that horse play.   In any case the schools were not interested in our son's education, so we had to do what we needed to do to get him a good one.  And it's working out better for him.
@brautigan We went the same route with our daughter and it was such a good decision.  Her self confidence soared and she's on her way to a great career at a young age.  If we had kept her in the public school system I shudder to think of what that would have done to her.  Parents need to step in and make the right decision for their children, even if it goes against the norm.  To me, "the norm" is not normal or healthy at all. Â
http://www.oregonlive.com/sherwood/index.ssf/2013/03/sherwood_parents_intend_to_fil.html
The comments from this feed show more insight. Parents from the school, that know the situation, have been commenting on this feed.Â
It is upsetting that the news story would focus on the so called wrongs of a well respected school, and take the word of a parent whose behavior and actions towards school officials has been rumored to have earned him to not even to be allowed on school grounds. All adult names involved in this, and some who are not, have been known bullies to the community, board, director and educators at SCS. It's is my thought that someone has finally stood up to them, and they are mad for being called out on their ridiculous allegations. If you are so unhappy with the school, take your children who are still enrolled and go somewhere where they will allow you to bully them, because clearly SCS will not. It is also sickening that they would equate the devastating tragedy of Sandy Hook to this trumped up situation that was dealt with and moved on from. That is a clear indicator of just how twisted and skewed their view on situations can be.
People really reading these comments that assume the kid is at fault and these parents who raised the charges are the innocent victims. Do not believe what you read. Look into the accuser you will find out who the real bully is.
@vtnative65 Are you the little bugger's mother?
@brautigan @vtnative65 look into the facts. she is not the mother, i can attest to that.
@brautigan @vtnative65
No I am not just someone who is informed
Feral
You really need to educate yourself before you post. The police investigated this and found the accusers to be lying. This is nothing more the a group of parents who are trying to protect their lying child.
THANK YOU!!! I m so glad to read that  you  realize what I was seeing. I agree that  this is a painfully, obvious case of our "perp" is the true victim . I heard a rummer that the family's are in a state of mediation. so these folks seemed to dove right on a law suit.  I am just grossed out by this whole thing. Shame on those who were involved in the lying.
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@feral lol
@feral @vtnative65
They investigated when it happened the girl should be in jail
Heavens to Betsy! I thought we were talking about children here, and you think the girl should be thrown in jail? Holy meowin' catfish! What is this kid doing? Tazing her classmates with her pencil?