Van Buren School Director Addresses Punishment For School Threats

Van Buren County Director of Schools Cheryl Cole said students that make false threats of school violence will be charged.

Cole shared a letter she drafted to the school board Wednesday night. Cole said the idea is not to sentence a student but to let a judge determine if they need further help.

“If they need counseling in the home or if they need some extra guidance or whatever,” Cole said. “So we could all be on the same page, so maybe, we could get this child more help than what is here at school.”

Cole said she thought the statement needed to be shared in response to a false threat made earlier this school year. Cole said the situation was handled by school resource officers with no threat found. Cole said the student was charged shortly after.

“It was handled real quickly,” Cole said. “Most people don’t even know about it.”

Cole said the addition of another school resource officer made last school year proved to be useful during the situation. Cole said situations in Putnam and Coffee County also played a role in the message.