Threats Lead To Expulsion

Sat., May 30, 1998

From Staff Reports

A Sacajawea Middle School student was expelled after threatening to shoot two eighth-grade girls and an assistant principal, school officials said Friday.

The 14-year-old boy made the comments Wednesday during a presentation on school safety and violence, said Terren Roloff, Spokane School District 81 spokeswoman.

The threat wasn’t reported until that evening, when one of the girls’ parents called Principal Herb Rotchford at home.

The district’s security department investigated and called police, who arrested the boy and took him to the county juvenile detention center, Roloff said.

The eighth-grade special education student has been charged with felony threat with intent to do harm, Roloff said. A district hearing will be conducted to determine whether the boy will be allowed to return to school next year, Roloff said.

“The irony of it is that the telecast was about school safety and violence. Even if a student’s joking, we take it seriously.”

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