Southern Boone School District holds first public meeting after student threat arrests
ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Southern Boone School District held its first public board meeting after a series of threats were made involving schools and students.
The originally scheduled meeting on Sept.16 was postponed following the arrest of a middle school student the same day. Classes were canceled on Sept. 17. Tuesday's meeting took place at 6:30 p.m. in Ashland with “safety and security” listed as one of the items on the agenda.
On Friday, a Southern Boone Middle School student was arrested on suspicion of making a terroristic threat, according to a social media post from the Ashland Police Department. It marked the third student at the middle school who was arrested that week for making threats. However, police claimed that the arrests were not connected.
The first arrest occurred on Sept. 14 after the Ashland Police Department received a tip about a verbal threat from a student related to Southern Boone Middle School. Following an investigation, a juvenile was arrested on suspicion of making a terrorist threat.
The next incident occurred just two days later, forcing the Southern Boone School District to dismiss classes early, cancel classes the next day and call off an administrator session. The decision was made after the Ashland Police Department arrested a student accused of fourth-degree assault after it was told about a verbal threat related to Southern Boone Middle School at about 9 a.m. Sept. 16.
However, a regularly scheduled executive session occurred on Sept. 16 that was closed to the public. School Board President Amy Begemann told ABC 17 News at the time that the board discussed some of the recent threats during the meeting, but was unable to provide specifics.
Several concerned parents gathered outside of the meeting wanting a long-term solution from the district and demanding to know if the students arrested would be allowed to return to school. They claim the district told them because the issue involves a juvenile, they cannot disclose that information.
Several parents showed up once again on Tuesday in what was a much calmer atmosphere, as the district provided answers to some of those questions.
A board member read a statement during the meeting saying the district currently has security cameras in each building, forces staff to undergo mandatory safety training and conducts multiple emergency drills with students throughout the year.
The board will also reveal plans to review current safety protocols, work with Missouri School Board Association’s Center for Education Safety to schedule behavioral risk assessment team training and reach out to the Boone County Cyber Crimes Unit for a parent meeting on how to best protect children online.
A school official added the board is also discussing adding school resource officers. Law enforcement officers have been assigned to Southern Boone schools in the past, but that was ended due to limited staffing and budget constraints from the Ashland Police Department.
However one parent who spoke during the meeting still had issues with the district's communication, specifically about the threats being referred to as “rumors.” She also had questions about how the district was getting information from students on these threats, saying that some students may be too scared to report full information to the schools.
