Father upset over district threat-notification policy

It was a Friday when a classmate told Al Berger’s third-grade son that he planned to get a pistol, point it at the boy’s head and shoot him.

Berger didn’t find out about the threat until the next Monday, when he happened across a letter of apology written to his son from the boy who threatened him.

Now, Berger wants Spokane Public Schools to change its policy regarding notification of threats. Currently the policy specifies that only the subject of the threat be notified.

“I want parents to be notified immediately if their child has been threatened,” Berger said. “We have an overriding right to know.”

Berger said his son, a Hamblen Elementary School student, was threatened May 14. After the incident, his son didn’t report it to his teacher, apparently because he didn’t think much of it, Berger said. But another student who overheard the threat did report it.

When the Bergers found the apology letter and questioned their son, they immediately called Principal Donna Burt at home.

Burt apologized for not contacting the Bergers, district spokeswoman Terren Roloff said. But school officials had done a risk evaluation of the boy who made the threat and, “based on past behavior, found that his ability to carry out the threat was negligible,” Roloff said.

Current district policy states, “Students and school employees who are subjects of threats of violence or harm shall be notified of the threats in a timely manner. Timing and details of the notice will be as extensive as permitted by the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, other legal limitations and the circumstances.”

Roloff said that despite the policy, parents are notified of threats to their students “99.9 percent of the time.”

For Berger, that’s not good enough.

“The school district needs to make drastic changes to protect the students it’s serving,” he said. “There needs to be accountability by the district.”

In addition, Berger said, victims and their parents should be able to learn what type of treatment students who threaten them are receiving. Privacy laws prevent teachers and administrators from sharing the specifics of discipline decisions.

“Punishment won’t change his behavior; treatment will. I have a need to know this individual has received some type of treatment,” Berger said.

“His right to privacy is outweighed because of the threat.”

Berger also contacted state Rep. John Ahern, R-Spokane, with his frustration over the situation.

Ahern responded by explaining that privacy laws are “meant to protect all students and their families” and that districts have policies in place that “provide for the most security for the most people.”

“You have justification to feel upset that the principal did not contact you in a timely manner,” Ahern wrote. “For the sake of your son, it would be best to ‘abandon the quarrel’ before it escalates and drags him into another situation he is not prepared to handle.”

Berger remains frustrated.