St. Landry students caught issuing threats face stiff penalties, district says
St. Landry Parish public school students who are caught issuing bomb threats that cause campus evacuations and lockdowns will face stiff penalties and will be considered terrorists, according to school officials.
Superintendent Patrick Jenkins said Monday that he thinks students should be recommended for expulsion, arrested and prosecuted if it is determined by authorities that they made bomb threats that disrupted normal school activities.
Jenkins discussed the bomb threat issue with Buildings, Lands and Sites Committee members, just hours after students at Port Barre High and middle school students were evacuated from their classes after town police officers reported their response to a bomb threat located on a bathroom wall inside one of the schools.
Since mid-October, students at the Port Barre schools and Beau Chene High have experienced multiple lockdowns and evacuation procedures that have canceled classes and required investigations by campus administrators, St. Landry Parish deputies and municipal police officers.
“This (bomb threats and evacuations) is happening too often," said committee chairman Anthony Standberry. "I feel that the authorities need to step their game up. It’s something that we need to review quickly and do what we need to do. We have been losing too much school and classroom time.”
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Jenkins told the committee that law enforcement at both the town and parish levels have been active in tackling the bomb threat matters.
Two Port Barre students recently were arrested and charged with terrorism and providing false information for allegedly issuing bomb threats at the schools, Jenkins said.
He added that expulsions for the two arrested students who allegedly are involved will probably be recommended by school administrators.
Jenkins said the district is taking an active approach in handling the matter of the lockdowns and evacuations.
“We have a lot of resources available to deal with these threats, and all of them are being utilized," Jenkins said. "We have been getting a lot of help from the sheriff and others, and we are aware that there are penalties that are available for dealing with the matters.”
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Jenkins also reminded the committee that the district has policies that address student cell phone usage on campus in order to limit student communication during school hours.
In the primary grades leading to eighth grade, students are not allowed to bring cell phones to school, Jenkins said.
The student cell phone policy also includes the high school grades where phones can be brought on campus, but the phones are required to remain inside students’ lockers during classroom hours.
Committee member Kyle Boss told Jenkins that school authorities need to become more strident in restricting students’ cell phone usage.
“I was at Beau Chene during the second lockdown there, and I know that at least 200 cell phones were collected from the students during a search," Boss said. "They found phones hidden in the air conditioning ducts and trash cans. You could hear the cell phones ringing, warning students that they were coming to get their phones.”
Raymond Cassimere, a board member who attended the committee meeting, questioned whether cell phones were connected to the bomb threats made by students.
SCHOOL SAFETY:St. Landry school safety coordinator: Doors on campus must be locked
This article originally appeared on Opelousas Daily World: St. Landry Parish students issuing bomb threats face charges.
