Fallout from Words of Warning

WAYLAND, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Friday saw some fallout from Newschannel 3's special report on Thursday night as leaders are asking for answers on how Wayland school officials dealt with a threat, as another one arises.

“Going to bring a gun to school to kill the students, and then he's going to kill himself,” said a mother.

The mother heard that claim from her son, and called Wayland Union High School, where her son is a student. Now, the Wayland school district is under fire for never telling police about it.

Wayland's Police Chief is calling for an investigation by the Attorney General, and as Newschannel 3 was at Wayland Union High School on Friday following up on the story, more threats came down.

Less than 24 hours after Newschannel 3's special report 'Words of Warning' aired, the Wayland school district saw another test of cooperation when a real threat bubbled to the surface.

On Friday afternoon, Wayland Union High School, and bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in just after 1:00 pm after police say a student heard other students talking about someone bringing a gun or putting a bomb in the school's gymnasium for an assembly.

Newschannel 3 usually does not report on threats at school that turn out to be false alarms, but currently the spotlight is on the district, with lawmakers taking a close look at how school officials cooperate with police.

In regards to Friday's threat, school leaders did in fact call police immediately after receiving the threat, and Wayland's Police Chief says that in essence, the system worked on Friday, but adds that cooperation hasn't been there in the past.

On Friday, we also got reaction to Thursday night's investigation.

A former teacher, now state legislator, Bob Genetski represents Allegan County.

“Obviously school safety is of utmost importance and to any teacher and to any parent, it's a little shocking,” said Genetski. “We've got to protect our kids, nobody's going to argue with that. If there's an imminent danger in a school than we have a legal and moral obligation to bring in the police as soon as possible.”

Genetski says that during his time as a school teacher, he was locked into classrooms several times regarding incidents.

“We had squad cars outside the building sometimes, just as precautionary measures when we thought there was a potential threat to our children in the building, and that's what I would expect statewide,” said Genetski.

On Friday, Newschannel 3 dug further into the law and found Public Act 102. A document we obtained says a suspected armed student is a mandated reportable offense between schools and law enforcement. Under that act, state education leaders say the Wayland school district broke state law by not cooperating with police instantly.

Investigators say that district leaders never directly informed them of a shooting threat, but the department found out about that threat only through another source the day after.

Newschannel 3 also obtained a copy of a letter sent out by Superintendent Eivor Swan to staff members defending the district's actions regarding the shooting threat that took place in January.

“After interviewing two parents and more than six students, the student who was the subject of the rumor had been confronted and the issue was resolved,” read part of that letter.

However, parents on Friday don't accept that explanation, and say the district has to let police make the decision whether the treat is really a credible threat.

Newschannel 3 also learned on Friday that the teachers union is taking a no-confidence vote in Swan in the wake of our reporting, and some parents are demanding her resignation.