Nov 17, 2014 4 min read

JEFFERSON – Jefferson-Morgan School Board Monday addressed various issues regarding recent bomb threats and announced state police would be attending assemblies to talk to students about the threats.

The district has had four bomb threats since mid-October, the last being Friday when district schools were evacuated for nearly 45 minutes.

A board committee meeting last week drew about three dozen parents who expressed their concerns about the incidents. On Monday, about seven parents attended the board meeting and one addressed the board about a parent’s group she would like to form to assist and support the district.

State police also attended Monday’s meeting and answered several questions from the board.

State police referred to last Friday’s threat as “not credible” and said it was a disciplinary matter to be addressed by the school.

When asked about police’s characterization of the incident, Trooper Bart Lemansky did not go into details about the alleged threat but noted police must consider a threat in a legal sense of what can be prosecuted under the law.

He told the board police are in the district to conduct an investigation, but in regard to whether the district evacuates a building or not, that is an issue entirely up to the district’s internal policies.

Lemansky was asked to clarify an issue regarding the announcement last week that a student was arrested in connection with one of the threats. Board member John Hildebrand said since that arrest two subsequent bomb threats were made, which Lemansky affirmed.

“So we’re not completely out of the woods. We still have a problem,” Hildebrand said. Lemansky said police continue to investigate the incidents.

Lemansky will speak to students in grades 7 through 12 at assemblies scheduled Dec. 4, said assistant principal Brandon Robinson. The assemblies will focus on safety as well as the legal consequences of making bomb threats, he said.

Robinson also thanked state police, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and local fire companies that assisted the district during the recent threats.

Asked about counseling to help younger students deal with the threats, Christine Winiarski, head of pupil personnel services, said counselors met with students as a group and provided individual counseling to those who wanted it.

She said she believed the staff could address the students’ needs.

Jacob Shingle, technology coordinator, was asked to explore other vendors for the district’s automated telephone calling system because of delays the district experience in making the calls.

Shingle noted it takes about a half hour for the current system to call every telephone numbers registered with the district, leading to delays in people getting the messages of a threat or early dismissal.

Parent Keshia Shellot addressed the board, saying that while many parents are frustrated with the recent events, she would like to start a new parent group that would assist the district in addressing problems and help it raise money to support the schools.

“I’d like to get a group of parents who can help rather than just complain about what is going on,” she said. Shellot said she will post meeting dates on Facebook and anyone who has any questions can message her through Facebook.

In other business, the board hired Joseph Orr, principal of Deer Lakes High School, at a salary of $95,000 to replace middle-senior high school Principal Bart Donley, who is leaving the district next month.

Donley, who said he was addressing the board for the last time, spoke of the good things that are going on in the district that, he said, usually are not mentioned.

He spoke of the growth in participation in the band and pointed out Jefferson-Morgan High School scored the highest of all high schools in the county on the recent state school profiles.

“There’s a lot of good things happening here, but you don’t read about it as much as you read about the negatives,” he said.