Toano Parent Feels Administration Missed 'Teachable Moment' in Stabbing Plot Aftermath

By Amber Lester Friday, February 19, 2010

Parents of students at Toano Middle School were surprised to learn last week that two students had been charged of conspiring to stab another student in January.

A Toano eighth-grader is being held at the Merrimac Juvenile Detention Center on felony charges of trying to build a bomb, attempting to burn down his father’s Governor’s Land house and plotting to stab another student in a school bathroom. A seventh-grader was also implicated in the stabbing plot. Both students have pending discipline hearings, according to Williamsburg-James City County spokesperson Greg Davy.

Although no children were harmed, some parents were dismayed they were not informed of the incident until Feb. 10, when local media reported it. WJCC said families were not notified because there was “no real, true link” to any other potential threat at the school, Davy said.

But Mark Bernecker, who has a son in sixth grade at Toano, said he was most upset about the lapse of time between the incident and the announcement. “In an event like that, I don’t want to be reading that in the paper,” he said. “Given the magnitude of this particular situation, it would have been nice for school officials to get some word out to parents.”

He said what set this incident apart from others was the presence of a weapon. “If a kid got busted with drugs or there was a fistfight, I don’t need to know that day,” he said. “But when it elevates to weapons and someone wanting to stab another child, that’s got to get out there.”

Using the School Messenger voicemail program, Principal Theresa Redd contacted parents on Feb. 10 to let them know the situation was under control. “I want to assure you that at no time were any students at Toano harmed,” she said. “This was an incident wherein a student was in possession of a knife and the Toano administration took immediate and appropriate action to inform law enforcement and suspend the student as occurs for similar incidents in our schools.”

Redd went on to say the incident was being handled by local law enforcement and the fire marshal’s office. “Our priority at Toano is to provide a safe learning environment for your child,” she said.

Guidance counselors were also made available to students following the announcement. No students sought counseling, according to Dianna Lindsay, executive director for secondary instruction and staff development.

Bernecker felt that by not making parents and the school community aware of the problem in January, the school missed a teachable moment. “As a parent, I feel for the family that is dealing with this situation with their son. But as a parent not dealing with that child directly, I feel there is an important lesson to be taught and/or delivered to the children immediately after this happens,” he said.

His son said he had no idea what had happened, but had seen several policemen at school and knew something had happened. “From that day forward, there has been a teacher in the restrooms during every class change,” Bernecker said.

He thinks the teachers and administrators should be talking to kids about how to recognize emotional distress in fellow students or report threats. That’s the message he gave his son on Feb. 10, when the arrest was reported in media outlets.

He showed him an article about the incident and answered his son’s questions. “I also told him, ‘I know there are times you want to be the cool kid, but there are times you need to step up and communicate the misdoings of others to an adult,” he said.

Several people identifying themselves as Toano students have left comments on a WAVY TV story about the incident indicating they aren’t sure what to think about their fellow students’ actions. One wrote of the students implicated in the stabbing plot, “I’m not really sure what happened to them. I’ll miss who they were … not what they became. It’ll be weird not seeing them around but they tried to hurt one of the most important people in my life, so good riddance to both of them.”

Another poster wrote, “I go to Toano and I used to [be] friends with the eighth-grader in fifth grade. It’s amazing what three years can do to a person.”

The eighth-grader first came to the attention of the James City County Police after the Jan. 15 stabbing incident. He was charged with possession of a weapon on school property and one count of petit larceny relating to the student’s possession of a medication bottle.

On Jan. 28, the student was reported as a runaway by his guardian. At that time, law enforcement also investigated whether the boy had manufactured an explosive device; they found he had hidden components for one in a suitcase. A search of his laptop revealed suspicious searches, such as “how to kill someone with a knife” and “disposing of a body.” Police and fire officials also learned he had set a fire at his father’s home a week before Christmas, causing minimal damage; police and fire officials were not notified.

The boy was found in the Ford’s Colony neighborhood on Jan. 29 and taken into custody.