RICHMOND, Va. -- Some Thomas Jefferson High School teachers have raised concerns after a disciplinary committee made up of three Richmond School Board members voted last Thursday to reinstate a student who allegedly threatened to shoot a teacher.
Several teachers at the school began to raise concerns to school administrators about the student more than a year ago. Then they reported the student had a fascination with guns, painted a picture of themself holding a gun, talked about school shootings, and felt isolated and without friends.
The situation came to a head in January when the student allegedly threatened to bring a gun to school and shoot a teacher in the face.
Richmond Police charged the student with threatening bodily harm to the teacher.
At a disciplinary hearing, a hearing officer recommended the student be expelled.
But, during the appeals process, a disciplinary committee made up of school board members Nicole Jones, Kenya Gibson, and Mariah White voted to reinstate the student to Thomas Jefferson.
That disciplinary committee has the final say on whether a student is expelled.
A breakdown of how each school board member voted was not made public.
Gibson and White declined to comment citing student privacy concerns. Jones has not yet responded to the question.
Some teachers at the school have now said they felt scared because they do not know if the student has received mental health treatment, or what type of interventions the school will have in place to keep students and staff safe.
"Here we go again, a group of politicians think they know better than the people in the building," Richmond School Board Member Jonathan Young said.
Young said, while he could not talk about specific students, he could understand the school staff's concerns.
Earlier this year, Tyler Layne reported the School Board's disciplinary committee voted 92 percent of the time to overturn expulsion requests made by school administrators between January and December 2022.
When making the decision, they take into account eight factors, including the appropriateness and availability of an alternative education placement, the seriousness of the violation, the degree of danger to the school community, and the student's disciplinary history.
When asked how Richmond Schools planned to keep students and staff safe, School Board Chair Stephanie Rizzi responded with the following statement:
"Because of privacy concerns, I cannot speak about any one specific student matter. I can share that a committee of the School Board hears appeals of student expulsions twice a month. It is never easy to make such decisions. During those hearings, the Board members review each matter on a case-by-case basis and consults with RPS staff in attendance to find the best option for our children who may be experiencing difficulties."
Board member Dr. Shonda Harris-Muhammed said she was concerned about the student's return after hearing from teachers and brought up the issue at Monday night's school board meeting.
"I am of the mindset that when there is a gesture of a threat when it’s a verbal, written, or social media threat, then we need to look at other placements for those students," she said. "I’m very adamant about that and I’ll always support that because my number one job as a school board representative is to keep every single person safe, including the student who has made the threat.”
She also addressed the importance of helping those dealing with mental health issues.
"I want the public to know we are of a board, I am of a board that also wants to care for the students who are going through these mental breakdowns, that are making threats, that are in the capacity of bullying others. It’s real. This is happening and we have to be courageous enough to make decisions that are not popular in our community," she said.
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