Oxford Village Police officers were present at Oxford Elementary School Nov. 6 as staff members searched students? backpacks as they entered the building.
According OES Principal Jeff Brown, this was done because many students have received notes of a threatening nature in their desks and/or lockers.
‘The kids have been making some pretty serious threats,? Brown said. ‘They’ve had the word ‘die? or ‘death? in several of the notes.?
‘A couple of village police officers have been over to look at it, too. They have the original copies of some of these threats,? he added. ‘It’s very clearly in kid handwriting.?
Brown doesn’t believe this to be an outside threat of any sort and there’s no evidence pointing in that direction.
‘We’ve had kids who have found (notes) in their lockers throughout the course of the day when it wasn’t there in the beginning of the day, so we have no reason to believe it’s kids that are getting in here after school and doing it,? he said. ‘It seems it’s kids within our own building that are making a really poor decision and now, we have to figure out how to make it stop.?
Brown was first made aware of the problem Nov. 4 when a fifth-grade teacher talked with him about the situation. He also received some e-mails from parents.
‘Once the word got out that this was going on . . . I have had some other families that have e-mailed me or called me (to say) ‘Yeah, just wanted to let you know my child got something a couple weeks ago and I didn’t think anything of it,?? he added. ‘So, it’s definitely been going on longer than when I learned about it.?
The majority of the notes have been to fifth-graders, but a few fourth-graders have received notes in their lockers as well.
‘It seems to be happening all in the same hallway, where we just have fifth and fourth-grade classes, which makes me think it’s a kid or a couple of kids in that area,? Brown said.
OES does have security cameras, but the majority of them are focused on entry and exit doors as opposed to inside the building, he explained
‘Our intent of having the cameras in an elementary building was more trying to catch people that are coming in from the outside. Our goal isn’t like a middle school or high school to watch the kids that are here ,? he said. ‘It’s impossible to get into Oxford Elementary School and get more than a few steps without a camera picking you up. But if you’re already here, it’s a little more difficult.?
Of the eight cameras they have at the school, Brown said three of them do show sections of hallways, but they have ‘big spots of hallways? that have no coverage. He has watched hours of video surveillance trying to see if he can see anything.
‘At entry and dismissal times, there are 450 kids in the hallway at the same time,? he added. ‘So to try and spot a kid carrying a post-it note or something like that is really difficult.?
Brown said these kinds of threats aren’t anything new.
‘The reality is over the course of any school year, I probably get five to 10 of these that I have to deal with in any given year. From talking to other elementary principal colleagues, that seems pretty common,? he said. ‘Kids at this age, I don’t think understand what the word ‘death? means and how threatening that can be. Luckily for kids this age, they don’t understand the (post) Columbine world we live in. I think that’s a good thing that they don’t have to have a full understanding of that.?
In the past, Brown said it’s been a single note that’s been intercepted in a class.
But this incident has impacted multiple students within a short period of time and has reached a new level.
‘Now, there have been enough of these that have happened and now (students are) opening their lockers wondering if there is a note there. That’s concerning,? he added. ‘That’s a little bit more than what’s the norm over the course of the year.?
Because of that, Brown said in discussions with village police, they decided to search the students? backpacks Friday to send a message of about serious this type of behavior is.
He said the search had two purposes.
One, to make sure there weren’t any type of weapons being brought in by a student or students.
And two, to try and find evidence that would give a clue as to who might be writing these notes.
‘We also wanted to ensure that everybody felt as safe as possible,? he added. ‘It certainly made me feel better to say we’re making sure that there is nothing coming into the building.?
Later that day, Brown also went to each classroom and spoke to students about why their backpacks were searched that morning.
An e-mail was sent to OES parents around 4 p.m. Friday explaining what happened and why.
‘We searched backpacks this morning because we have a student or possibly students that are writing scary notes and putting them in people’s lockers and desks. We searched bags today because we wanted to make sure all of us are safe from this kind of behavior. Writing scary notes to people is not okay,? Brown said in his e-mail. ‘We all deserve to go to school and focus on learning and having fun and not being scared. Our job is to keep you safe at school. I’m hoping that as a result of our search and from getting all of you talking about this, that I will be able to learn the name or names of the kids that are responsible for scaring all of us.?
This is incident is not being investigated by the village police, but Brown said they have ‘worked with us really well and will continue to stay in contact with us.?
As far as parents? reactions, Brown said he’s had some who think they’ve done way too much, others that don’t think they’ve done enough and those in between.
‘Since (the) Columbine (massacre), there has been enough things that have happened that certainly, everybody is worried,? he said. ‘I’d love to say, ‘Yeah, I think people are more worried than they need to be,? but I also don’t want Oxford Elementary School to be that first school that has that issue where it’s a kid this age that does something (violent).?
He reiterated the school is doing it’s best to be forthright and transparent by disseminating as much information as possible to parents so everyone feels safe.
‘My main goal is just to make it stop,? he said. ‘But goal number two is if we can find the kid or kids responsible for this that would really make us feel like we could make it stop.?
Brown said over the course of the day Friday, he talked with about 20 different students who said they knew or saw something, but at this point, he doesn’t have any active leads or suspects.
‘Right now, we’re kind of waiting,? he said.