As the Central Kansas Christian Academy’s regular school board meeting got underway on Tuesday, approximately two dozen parents came to discuss their concerns about a recent incident where one student threatened to bring a gun and shoot another student. (See the original story here.)

School staff determined the threat was not credible and Principal Sherry Pruter said the child’s parents were contacted that day. Great Bend Police Officer Ethan Thomas recommended she report the incident to the police, and that was done. Thomas teaches DARE classes and conducts safety lessons for K-2nd graders in the spring; he was present at Tuesday’s meeting.

Parents voiced frustration that the incident occurred on Sept. 10 but parents weren’t notified until the school emailed a statement on Monday, Sept. 16.

“Not having transparency up front was kind of hard to take,” said a mother who has two children at the school. Learning about the incident almost a week later, she said, “it hurt a little bit.”

The students are upset about the incident and the fact that some of their classmates are no longer at the school, parents said. Pruter later told the Great Bend Tribune that three students had left, including the two involved in the incident. The parents made the decision to remove them from the school, she said.

Other parents said they considered removing their students from the school.

Volunteer librarian Cherie Jacobs told the audience she was there when the incident happened. “I don’t believe it was a viable threat,” she said. However, “We probably should have handled it better.”

“I think you failed; I’m sorry,” another mother said, adding she thought about taking her child out of the school. On Monday, before receiving the message about the incident, she received a message from a teacher that her child brought a Cirkul-brand water bottle to school, which is against the rules.

Thomas said the police should be called any time a student commits a crime, including battery, vaping or threats of violence such as this. That doesn’t mean the child will end up in court for a playground fight, he said, but it can lead to consequences that may include help for the child.’

The best thing from this is no one was hurt,” Thomas said.

However, a father said the incident should be followed up as if the worst had happened. That way, educators can better prepare better for the future.

“We also need to think about what led him to this,” another mother said of the student who made the threat. “We’re supposed to have a zero-tolerance policy on bullying. What got him from Point A to Point B?”

Pruter said there are lessons on self-regulation and bullying prevention.

Jacobs said they followed the school’s handbook.

Board president Janine Burton said the school will be looking at its policies and possible revisions. “This is definitely something we’ll be addressing,” she said.

Another father said he was unhappy that someone had reported the story of the incident, which was then posted on the Great Bend Tribune website and Facebook page.

“Seeing the media contacted was a heartbreaking thing for me,” he said. “It saddened me; it was a black eye for the school that was unnecessary.”

Board members thanked the parents for coming. One man on the board told them, “The only way we can move forward is learning from this.”

Burton added, “There’s a bigger picture. I know we have some work to do. I want to see this school grow, advance and improve.”