LAUREL HILL — On the heels of a meeting Tuesday, fingers are being pointed in all directions on the lack of communication and transparency with schools and parents after a threat was made against Carver Middle School.
Scotland County Schools held the meeting for parents of Carver Middle School students to discuss the incident of a threat against the school made the previous week.
The media center at the school was packed for the meeting with people wanting answers, most of whom looked to Superintendent Ron Hargrave and Principal Mary Hemphill.
The threat was reported to the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, Jan. 24, after two students went to staff about what they believed to be a plan to carry out an active shooter situation the next day. The suspected students had allegedly made communications via a social media chatroom beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 22, during the late afternoon or early evening hours.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, six students had juvenile petitions secured against them along with a request from juvenile services for these students to be ordered to secured custody and confined within a declared juvenile detention facility. It is alleged that the students have violated a state statute of communicating threats of mass violence upon a school campus, which is a Class H felony.
At the meeting, parents said they heard of the incident via social media. In response, they were told there will be extra security around Carver for the next few days and that faculty is preparing to meet and go to classrooms talking to students about the incident to make sure students feel safe.
Hemphill told WLNC that they will continue keeping lines of communication open with parents and that she was proud of them for coming out to have their voices heard to help them get better.
School officials told parents the reason they did not inform them immediately was because the Sheriff’s Office had asked them not to while they conducted the investigation. Many parents had questions about the investigation that were unable to be answered, since the only representatives from the Sheriff’s Office at the meeting Tuesday was the school SRO — who could not answer many questions. She did tell parents that, as soon as the information was confirmed Thursday, the students were taken out of school and suspended.
However, according to the Sheriff’s Office, the information the school was giving was not correct. According to a press release, the Sheriff’s Office reported that “at no time, instructed any staff or member of the school board or school to refrain from informing parents or family, and at no time instructed the school to stop or prevent the staff members from taking further action such as ordering a lock down, or continuing in a safety sweep or inspection of the school.”
The release also added that, while Carver Deputy Sgt. SRO Sheronika Smith was requested at the meeting Tuesday, no other requests were made for personnel from the Sheriff’s Office.