What's the opposite of the overzealous school principal expelling a student for possessing a butter knife? A student left dead because the school "bungled" a genuine death threat:
In the days preceding John Jasmer's Aug. 21, 2003, slaying, at least one school-district employee was aware of a murder plot, according to Seattle police. An independent school-district investigation revealed that two days before the slaying a parent told a district employee that members of the Roosevelt High's football team planned to kill Jasmer. On the day she received this information, the employee called a Roosevelt vice principal but only left a voice-mail message. The parent who brought the information forth also left a message for the vice principal, according to the school-district investigation. The vice principal said he didn't receive either message.The district inquiry failed to provide solid answers on whether school officials followed threat policies upon learning about the murder plot. After Jasmer's slaying, a former district spokeswoman summed up the threat-notification policy as saying that all credible threats of violence or harm against a student, employee or public-school property should be promptly and appropriately addressed.
Sound Politics notes the other aspects to the story, but thinks this is evidence that the school district is going straight to hell.
Posted by kswygert at March 28, 2005 03:50 PM