Stafford, CT – September 23, 2024
An incident at Stafford Middle School prompted parents to attend the most recent Board of Education meeting to voice their concerns.
While privacy statutes bind the schools, a picture of what happened emerged from the comments of concerned parents–which are, of course, secondhand stories at best. Still, according to parents who spoke at the meeting, a student made a statement during lunch that other students felt was threatening, and that suggested the student had a gun. Parents said many students went to hide in the bathrooms.
Despite the reassurance that the threat was not real, parents were concerned by the school’s response. Many commenters, including Kerry Small, said that parents had arrived at the school to pick up their children before the School Resource Officer (who was at the high school where a lockdown drill was planned). Small also wanted to know why there was no lockdown, whether the student was searched and questioned, whether a police report was filed, and if the video was reviewed.
Diana Usher said she felt the incident was “brushed under the rug” and suggested the student in question said he could get on the internet and find addresses for his fellow students. She wanted to know whether the student or a student who may have started the rumor was disciplined.
Nick Boudreau, who said he had experience in criminal justice, said he felt either security protocols were not followed or were not efficient. He said parents never should have been able to get to the campus.
Many of the criticisms seemed to be about the response times involved, including how long it may have taken for the administration to call the police and the fact that only one officer responded (Stafford’s lack of police coverage is well documented).
While Moccio was unable to reveal details due to the aforementioned privacy concerns for both the student accused of the threat and others involved in the incident, he assured parents that there was a reflection process following these kinds of incidents to understand what the district could have done better or differently, and what next steps should be. He suggested the school may bring in counselors or social workers to help students impacted by the incident.
“These are incredibly disturbing times,” he said, adding, “Kids come to school, unfortunately, afraid.” Still, he said that the administration followed the procedures that are in place and that part of the review process would include a conversation about whether or not a lockdown was warranted.
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