By Pat Maurer
Correspondents
Comments from two students looking for books in the Farwell High School library during school hours May 26 prompted what a school employee perceived as a threat and led to an employee seeking charges against one student and the school being closed down while an investigation was conducted.
The incident happened around 3:10 p.m. Thursday, a release from the Clare County Sheriff’s Office said. “Deputies were contacted by Farwell Schools about the concern of an alleged threat made against the schools by a 15-year-old male student.”
In a letter to the community, Farwell Superintendent Steve Scoville said, “Deputies met with the School Administration and talked with the student involved and his parents. The school took precautionary measures and closed school on 05/27/22 while the investigation continued. A report was forwarded to the Clare County Prosecutor’s Office for review.”
He said the student is not allowed on campus for the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year. We will continue to work with the proper authorities to get this student the help that they need, while we strive to ensure the safety of all students and staff.”
In their release, the CCSO said, “Deputies met with the School Administration and talked with the student involved and his parents. The school took precautionary measures and closed school while the investigation continued and followed up by forwarding the report to the Clare County Prosecutor’s Office.
An update to the Sheriff’s release said there would be no charges filed against the student involved in the incident.
In a May 27 press release Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis said of the two juvenile high school students – Student #1 and Student #2 – “Criminal Charges were only sought for Student #1, a special education student.”
She continued that when the two students were looking for books, “Student #1 picked up a book off the shelf entitled ‘The Shooters’ written by Leon Claire Metz.” She said, “The book is a chronicle that depicts rare historical and true stories of notorious gunmen.”
Reportedly Student #1 said, “Look it’s Texas.” Student #2 laughed. A school employee who was there “became upset over what was said.”
According to the release from Ambrozaitis, the employee said, “That’s not funny.” To which Student #1 replied, “It kinda is.” When Student #2 began laughing, the employee said, “Do you think that’s funny, ‘cause it’s not. Innocent kids lost their lives that day.”
Ambrozaitis said, “While the comments and laughing that the students engaged in were in bad taste and ill advised, they (the comments) did not rise to the level of a threat of school violence.”
She went on to explain, “The charging language for threats to commit violence against a school, school employees, or students is as follows: the individual(s) did verbally, through the use of an electronic device or system or theough other means intentionally threaten to use a firearm/an explosive’ other dangerous weatpon, to commit an act of violence against any students/school employees on school grounds/property.” She said that would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
She said, “No threat to harm anyone was made, nor were any weapons displayed. The statements by the students, and more specifically Student #1, were certainly ill-advised and insensitive, but that is most appropriately addressed by their parents and school officials.”
On Facebook May 28th, Ambrozaitis said, “I’ve read through the comments about the alleged Farwell Schools threat on my post and on other related posts. I felt that it was important for parents and community members to know what happened in order to allay panic and fear. I did not mention the employee’s name because the employee did not need to be harassed about his/her reaction to the event.”
She continued, “The recent school shooting, followed closely in time to the shooting here at Oxford, has everyone upset. Evil such as this is hard to comprehend. And, we should show those who work in our school system a lot of grace and understanding.
The school officials did what they thought was necessary in the moment to ensure the safety of their students. And, while the exchange did not rise to a criminal level, the school is taking action in accordance with their internal policy and procedures.”
She added, “Kids say stupid, insensitive things often. As adults, it is our responsibility to teach, guide, and correct them when those moments arise. To do that, we need to remain in control of our feelings and emotions about the given situation.”
In his letter, Scoville said, “Especially with the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, and other school violence events heavy on our hearts and minds, we understand that sending students to school can be a source of
anxiety. School should be a place of learning, exploration, expression, and creativity. We are
planning to resume school on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, because we believe the threat has been addressed. We will continue to practice school safety measures, including heightened awareness of our access to the buildings and transportation, and will not hesitate to do whatever it takes to protect our students and staff.”
School reopened Tuesday, May 31st.