Wayland's Superintendent Swan speaks to Newschannel 3

WAYLAND, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – It was a story that Newschannel 3 first broke, a threat against Wayland Union High School that was never reported to police.

Since Newschannel 3's investigation, school officials have been catching major flack for that decision, and it pushed hundreds to show up for Monday night's school board meeting.

Before that meeting began, Newschannel 3 sat down with Superintendent Eivor Swan.

Swan says school administrators did all the work that was needed after a parent called in to tell the school about threat in January. That threat was that a young boy was planning to come into the school to shoot students and staff.

Superintendent Swan has found herself at the center of controversy, and she sat down to talk to Newschannel 3, saying that her team investigated the alleged shooting threat, and that her team decided the police shouldn't be involved immediately.

“We appreciate Chief Miller, we appreciate his concern for students, that's a goal we have in common,” said Swan. “So we have invited Chief Miller to have a meeting with administrators and myself to review to make sure we are on the same page.”

Swan's action in not calling the police immediately was the focus of a board meeting Monday night, where some parents are calling her actions a cover-up, saying they didn't know about the threat until Newschannel 3's investigation aired.

“It made me mad because I didn't hear anything about it,” said Ron Kobish, a Wayland parent, “it needed to be communicated to parents right away.”

Wayland Police Chief Dan Miller says Swan broke the law by not letting the police do the work necessary to determine whether the treat was a credible one. Education leaders also confirmed to Newschannel 3 that the district broke the law. Superintendent Swan and her high school principal disagree.

“We absolutely followed the policies and procedures,” said Swan. “We did not break the law.”

Swan says the law allows some freedom for school districts to take a look at an incident before calling for help, something that doesn't sit well with parents.

“I think if the allegations are true, she needs to step down,” said Kobish. “She put my kids and the rest of the kids and the student body at risk.”

On Monday, Newschannel 3 confirmed that the county prosecutor will take a look at the case before the attorney general to see if the district did in fact break the law.