Springboro student makes threat on school bus, parents urge district to take action

SPRINGBORO, Ohio (WKEF)– Parents of Dennis Elementary School in Springboro are upset about a situation last week where a student threatened others on a school bus. They’re now urging the district to take quick action because they’re concerned about their children’s safety.

“I’m still just in shock that the situation that these children were put in was not relayed to the parents,” said Marcella Helbling, a Springboro parent.

She said she is extremely concerned about the safety of her son and other children after they learned a student made a threat on the bus last week.

Helbling, along with Heather Sartin, another parent, told Dayton 24/7 Now’s, Kysha Hancock her daughter said this behavior also takes place in the classroom.

“She witnessed using pencils and pens as maybe a stabbing weapon, she witnessed curse language, she said that this particular student uses the F word all the time,” said Sartin.

Helbling and Sartin said their children’s classes have had to go through multiple evacuation drills because of this student. One parent who wishes to remain anonymous said the district should have told parents about the situation.

“My child was punched in the stomachhe had made the threat to not tell therefore my daughter never informed me,” said the anonymous parent.

“When I asked my child about it they said it was one to two times a week they would need to leave the classroom,” said Helbling

Helbling and Sartin told Hancock they voiced these concerns to the school board in Wednesday night’s school board meeting, but felt like it didn’t get them anywhere. They told Hancock board members did thank them for coming and speaking up.

Hancock reached out to Springboro Schools and the district sent the statement they sent to all parents of the school Monday following the bus incident.

It said in part:

“Due to student privacy laws, we are unable to share specific details regarding the student involved or disciplinary actions taken. However, please be assured that we are taking this situation seriously and are implementing necessary steps to strengthen our safety procedures.”

The district said they are working closely with the Springboro Police Department and following all necessary protocols.