FUSD/MSJHS criticized
By Linh Tat
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 3:49 pm in Crime, Education, Fremont, Fremont Unified.
I’ve heard from a few parents now about how administrators at Mission San Jose High or the Fremont school district were wrong to withhold information that a teacher had received a threatening letter last week which referenced the Virginia Tech shooting.
Parents weren’t informed until yesterday - exactly one week later. FUSD spokeswoman Nicole Steward said yesterday that school officials had been asked by police not to comment earlier.
But the Fremont PD spokesman today said the department never instructed school officials not to comment on the situation. Rather, educators were told not to discuss specifics of the case.
“We told them not to release specifics about the letter and not to release the name of the teacher, but it’s not our position to dictate what or when they notify parents,” Detective Bill Veteran said.
I’ve placed a call in to Steward for further explanation and will update readers if I learn more. There’ll also be a follow-up article with parent and student reactions in tomorrow’s Argus.
UPDATE (9:45 p.m.): Since posting this entry in the afternoon, I’ve heard from the district’s spokeswoman. She said the original letter was turned over to police as evidence last Monday, and though the district asked for a copy of the letter, it did not receive one until Friday. That was the first time district officials had a chance to read the letter and determine that the community should be informed. I’ve copied and pasted her statement below in blue:
District statement:
On Monday, March 10, 2008, a threatening letter was sent to a teacher at Mission San Jose High School. The teacher alerted MSJHS administration as well as the SRO and the letter in question was handed over to FPD as evidence. An emergency meeting was convened to inform staff of the threat without releasing any detailed information.
The Fremont Police Department investigated the nature of the threat and at no time did they feel students were in immediate danger; therefore no lockdown was enacted. They began their investigation over the following days and the investigation is still underway.
Due to the original letter being entered as evidence in an ongoing police investigation, a copy of the letter was not immediately released to the District. The District received a copy of the letter on Friday March 14, 2008, after the victim authorized its release. Once the letter was obtained, District staff immediately recognized the seriousness and the decision was made to send a letter home to parents. The letter was sent on Monday March 17, 2008.
Two teachers referenced in the letter were put on paid leave per the teachers’ request. Additional police patrols were added to the area and an additional SRO was placed on the campus. This is still an ongoing investigation and the FPD is taking it very seriously. FUSD is cooperating fully with the police in this investigation.
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March 19th, 2008 at 9:31 am
It looks like the FUSD Staff and Board forgot to hold a community feedback meeting to discuss what to do next on the threatening letter issue. That is the reason for the delay in informing the parents. Time to elect new Board members who are not affiliated with Fremont Education Foundation and current City Council members.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Between the police dept and the school district, I hear a lot of defensive posturing. What I want to know is what is actively being done to secure our children’s environment today. The police department and the distict cannot act unilaterally. The fact that the police department does not concern itself with whether the parents are notified is a big problem. That actually deepens my concerns that their plan of actions don’t include parent and student involvement,awareness and training for dealing with threats to our teachers and students.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Why in the world would anyone hold a community feedback meeting? This is a very silly comment from Bob. The district and the principal were negligent in their duties as usual. No matter what the time frame was of receiving the copy of the letter, the principal, as the leader of the school, should have taken responsibility and informed the parents, no matter what the letter actually said. The fact was that it was a threatening letter. That is all. Remember most of our police force do not live in Fremont. I guarantee you that if this were to happen in their communities they live in,( Tracy, Modesto, Brentwood,) these cops would be all over the school protecting their children and it wouldn’t take them days to make a decision. Will someone please start going to City Council meetings to complain about our cops. I know noone is going to complain about Mr. Wonderful, Kew. That is clearly a lost cause.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
In response to Ms. Steward’s statement regarding the time frame of when the district received the letter: The district is using the victim as a scapegoat. The teacher and administration told the district about the letter on Monday and questioned why the police did not release it to the district for review. Permission was granted prior to Friday. The real issue is that the district does not have a clear plan or policy in placed when this happens and needed to buy some time to figure out what to do. Or, I feel, the district hoped this would “go away” or the police would solve this crime before the need to notify parents occurred. Meanwhile, the safety of the school’s staff and students are at sake.