Boca student's comments about classmates spark probe, concern

Christina Denardo
Palm Beach Post
Apr. 22, 2007

BOCA RATON — A Spanish River High senior won't be returning to school this year after making negative comments directed at his classmates on Tuesday, school officials said.

Superintendent Art Johnson said the school's principal told him the student pointed to classmates in a photo and made remarks such as "I like this one" and "I don't like this one."

The remarks prompted a police investigation and an agreement between the school and the student's family for the student not to return to campus, Johnson said.

It is not clear why such comments triggered a police investigation or prompted Principal Constance Tuman-Rugg to send an automated voice message about the incident to the homes of Spanish River's 2,124 students. Tuman-Rugg did not return repeated calls on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, district officials said the 18-year-old senior had made not just negative, but threatening, remarks against classmates. But they would not specify the nature of the threats or to whom they were directed.

A voice message to parents of Spanish River High students on Wednesday also said that police had searched for a list, weapons or symbols during their investigation, suggesting a serious threat was made. In the voice message, Tuman-Rugg acknowledged the heightened security concerns following this week's mass shooting at Virginia Tech University and today's anniversary of the Columbine High School attack.

Though Johnson later Thursday downplayed the student's comments and denied there were any threats, the principal promised additional officers at school today.

District officials, who cited juvenile privacy laws, have refused to release any police reports connected to the incident, though the student is legally an adult.

Officials' refusal to release details of the incident have prompted rumors and frustrated parents who suspect the school is trying to cover up a serious problem.

Since the 1999 Columbine shootings in, schools nationwide have taken a zero-tolerance approach to student threats, and in some cases drawn criticism for criminalizing student misbehavior.

Kenneth Trump, a national school security expert, said school officials "foil plots" on days leading up to the Columbine anniversary.

In St. Augustine on Thursday, a 14-year-old high school student was arrested for making e-mail threats that he would top the Virginia Tech massacre by killing 100 people. Officials found nothing in his home he could use for an attack. Still, he was charged with a second-degree felony for the threat.