Chesapeake Science Point Charter School violated a county school system guideline when it waited six days to notify police that a 14-year-old student threatened earlier this month to get an Uzi and kill everyone except his friend.
Anne Arundel police responded to the school March 10 to investigate a claim from a ninth-grader who boasted on March 4 that he was going on a mass-killing spree.
While the police later determined the threat was not serious, the school still failed to follow proper procedures. “Anything that requires a first responder ? police, fire or ambulance ? requires an automatic call-in,” said school system spokesman Bob Mosier.
“Anything that involves a weapon or a threat of a weapon should be reported as soon as practicable.”
These rules are guidelines drafted by the school system?s Office of School Security in collaboration with central office members, Mosier said.
There?s no specific time frame for the incidents to be reported, but the charter school should have notified the school system?s Office of School Security by now, he said.
Mosier said the school system is still waiting for answers on why the school failed to call police in a timely manner.
After a police investigation, charges were not filed against the student, police said. The boy, however, was punished, school system officials said.
The school board voted this month to keep the school on probation for the 2008-09 school year, because it needed too much help from the school system to fix problems such as hiring special education teachers, record keeping and securing building documents.
Parents rallied behind Principal Fatih Kandil when he was reassigned in January pending an investigation into his alleged discipline tactics by the county Department of Social Services. He was cleared and returned to school this month.
Cheri Winterton said Monday she still felt her sixth-grader was safe at the school of 219 students.
“I don?t know anything about this recent level of violence, but when it comes to the little things, like kids being picked on, they take care of it.”
