Local Parent Says School Didn't Notify Her About Son Threatened
By: Monica Yantosh
Updated: February 4, 2013
Jennifer Standefer said her son came home last week, worried after being threatened in school that day.
"He had to talk to the principal due to the fact that a young student brought a knife to school to stab him," said Standefer.
Her son attends Laura Bush Middle School in Lubbock Cooper ISD. She said she only found out because she asked her son about his day at school, but no one from the school or the district contacted her to talk about the incident.
She and her husband then met with the principal to find out more, but even after talking to the principal, Standefer felt the situation was not handled properly.
"I said, 'I don't understand why you couldn't call us,'" said Standefer. "She said 'Well, I didn't think your son was in any immediate threat.' But I stated to her, 'You're a parent, wouldn't you want that respect, the phone call, if someone was making a threat to your own child?'" said Standefer.
"But she said, 'I don't feel he was in danger, if he was in danger, I would have called you.'" said Standefer about her meeting with the principal.
Standefer has since withdrawn her son from school because of his concern, as well as her own for his safety.
"I don't trust the school with my child's safety because it comes down to black and white, they didn't contact us, they felt that they handled it in a proper manner, and at the end of the day, you know what, they didn't," said Standefer.
A spokeswoman with Lubbock-Cooper ISD, JoEllen Henderson, would not go on camera, and said the school cannot comment on this particular situation for legal reasons. She did, however, say the school's principal followed the student code of conduct for this situation, and did everything they could.
Standefer said the student who threatened her son received 2 days of in-school-suspension, but Standefer felt there should have been more done.
She also said she would have liked a call that day, even if to tell her what had happened, and how it was handled.
According to the Lubbock-Cooper ISD Student Code of Conduct, principals have the discretion when it comes to certain situations. When disciplining the student involved, principals can take into account grade, age, seriousness of the offense, frequency of misbehavior, and the student's attitude, among others. According to Henderson with LCISD, the principal at Laura Bush Middle School followed the Code of Conduct.
Standefer said her son did report the incident to the principal, but Henderson told KLBK that was not the case.
Henderson also told KLBK if a parent has spoken to the principal and handled the situation at the school level and wanted more action past just the school, they would need to fill out a complaint form in order to speak to the Superintendent.
"He had to talk to the principal due to the fact that a young student brought a knife to school to stab him," said Standefer.
Her son attends Laura Bush Middle School in Lubbock Cooper ISD. She said she only found out because she asked her son about his day at school, but no one from the school or the district contacted her to talk about the incident.
She and her husband then met with the principal to find out more, but even after talking to the principal, Standefer felt the situation was not handled properly.
"I said, 'I don't understand why you couldn't call us,'" said Standefer. "She said 'Well, I didn't think your son was in any immediate threat.' But I stated to her, 'You're a parent, wouldn't you want that respect, the phone call, if someone was making a threat to your own child?'" said Standefer.
"But she said, 'I don't feel he was in danger, if he was in danger, I would have called you.'" said Standefer about her meeting with the principal.
Standefer has since withdrawn her son from school because of his concern, as well as her own for his safety.
"I don't trust the school with my child's safety because it comes down to black and white, they didn't contact us, they felt that they handled it in a proper manner, and at the end of the day, you know what, they didn't," said Standefer.
A spokeswoman with Lubbock-Cooper ISD, JoEllen Henderson, would not go on camera, and said the school cannot comment on this particular situation for legal reasons. She did, however, say the school's principal followed the student code of conduct for this situation, and did everything they could.
Standefer said the student who threatened her son received 2 days of in-school-suspension, but Standefer felt there should have been more done.
She also said she would have liked a call that day, even if to tell her what had happened, and how it was handled.
According to the Lubbock-Cooper ISD Student Code of Conduct, principals have the discretion when it comes to certain situations. When disciplining the student involved, principals can take into account grade, age, seriousness of the offense, frequency of misbehavior, and the student's attitude, among others. According to Henderson with LCISD, the principal at Laura Bush Middle School followed the Code of Conduct.
Standefer said her son did report the incident to the principal, but Henderson told KLBK that was not the case.
Henderson also told KLBK if a parent has spoken to the principal and handled the situation at the school level and wanted more action past just the school, they would need to fill out a complaint form in order to speak to the Superintendent.
