Overton Teaching Students About Threat Danger

Overton County Schools working to educate students about the consequences of making dangerous threats.

Director of Schools Donnie Holman told the School Board Monday night that security meetings incorporated local school resource officers, the sheriff, and a member of Homeland Security. The final of the meetings will take place Friday at Wilson Elementary.

“(Homeland Security Member) Brandon Masters did a really good job of explaining to these students about the consequences,” Holman said. “One of which is, if convicted of this, it would be a felony and how a felony follows these children all through their adulthood and through their life.”

Holman said the goal is to be proactive and prevent as many incidents as possible instead of dealing with them as they come. Holman said the students at these events have been engaged and asked questions to make sure they properly understand the issue.

“We as a board, here and at the central office, we tried to brainstorm and see what we could do to be proactive at getting our students to not participate and understand the seriousness of making a threat against one of our schools,” Holman said. “So we decided that we would try to do a panel, almost, of people that could go to each school and speak to the students themselves.”

Holman said it is important for students to understand all of the different ways that a felony conviction can affect someone where a misdemeanor would not.

“It’ll affect you with being able to even vote at times, it’ll affect you in not being able to purchase a firearm, it’ll prevent you from getting good jobs possibly,” Holman said. “So we have really shared a lot of good information with our students and our staff at the schools and I hope that we’ll really see some good come from this.”

Board Member Mike Hayes said they should include an additional section about school threats in the district’s handbook for students and parents next year.

“And then penalties then might changes too,” Board Member Shirley Myers said. “The legislature’s very upset about this. Talking about maybe spending a night in jail just to give them a (scare), so they’re going in their direction.”