ST. JOHNS, Mich. — Some parents of a local elementary school are keeping their kids out of the classroom until they see some change.
FOX 47 News met up with some of those parents to find out why they're taking action.
A reported playground conversation between students at Eureka Elementary is causing big-time controversy in St. Johns.
Parents in the district say they are disappointed and angry with school leaders because they weren't notified after this happened.
"My son was specifically named from a third grader that was going to get a gun, bring it to school and shoot half of third grade, then specifically go to first grade and shoot my first grader," said Ashley Hansen.
Hansen says the whole situation has her family on edge.
"He is very scared. His sister is older, and she is very scared. To have to talk to my son about that is just heartbreaking," said Hansen.
FOX 47 reached out to St. Johns Public Schools for an interview.
They provided an emailed statement that said after an immediate investigation, there was no credible threat that was found.
The statement then reads:
"A student reported that a general threat had been made by another student on the playground. The school immediately investigated the report of a threat. The principal interviewed the parties involved and determined that there was no credible threat. At that time, the students involved did not report saying a student was bringing a gun to school or threatening to shoot other students. Appropriate disciplinary action was put in place for the student and the student was not in school today.
Further investigation was planned following the subsequent report received in the evening that the story was different from what was told to school authorities earlier in the day. The police have investigated the situation also and determined there is no credible threat from the student at this time.
We always take the safety and security precautions of our students seriously. This situation was no different. If a threat is deemed credible, we would take immediate action to keep students safe and would communicate with families. We are limited on what we can say to protect the privacy and identity of all minors involved."
Clinton County Sheriff's Department officials say the child who made the threats is now in counseling, and they're planning to make sure prosecutors look at the case.
"We deemed that there wasn't a credible threat at the time, but we are going to forward a report to the Clinton County Prosecutor's Office to make sure of that," said Undersheriff Mike Gute.
But still some parents, including Melinda Cornell, are keeping their kids home.
Some are even looking at moving their students to other districts.
"Until they tell us how they're going to keep our kids safe, I'm not sending him to school or my daughter," said Cornell.
