Northeast School Incident Outlines the Post-Newtown Communications Puzzle

A recent incident at Northeast School illustrates the post-Newtown balancing act school system officials are trying to perfect over student privacy versus the parental need to be informed.

"There is a balance and it is tipping in terms of communication," Superintendent of Schools Mary Conway said on Monday. "Before Newtown, the balance was clearly on the side of protecting the students and the students' rights. But now we have to take into account the public's need to know what is happening." 

The indecent in question took place on April 11, according to a Vernon Police Department case/incident report obtained by Vernon Patch via a Freedom of Information request. 

No arrests were made, but the report remains on file at police headquarters. 

According to the report, a male student was riding a Northeast School bus. The student pulled out a clear plastic air soft gun and showed it to others on the bus, according to the report. 

The student then motioned for a girl to come over to him and when she did not, the student allegedly threatened the girl by saying he "would get her later," the report indicates. 

Police were told there were some issues between the two in the past, according to the report. 

Another student was unnerved by the incident, reported it to his father in detail and his father went to the police. The child's mother also asked the school board in public session what was being done about the incident. 

Conway said on Monday the student who brought the toy gun on board the bus  "will not be back" at Northeast School. 

All administrators involved in the incident acted properly, Conway said. School officials are not pleased that the report was considered public record, but also know they have to go with the legal flow. 

"This certainly demonstrates that the public demands more communication than in the past," Conway said. "That balance of maintaining confidentiality of the students is drifting closer and closer to that (need-to-know) line."

She added,  "It comes down to the school being trusted and that is certainly part of communications." 

Conway said the school system takes every suspicious incident claim seriously.

"I did talk to the chief of police after this happened," she said. "We do have common understanding that any rumor - any suspicious claim that involves any kind of weapon will be turned over to the police. We have a good police departments - some police departments are not as cooperative.

"First and foremost, we want to keep out students safe."