April 17, 2023

USA: Florida Dept of Education Had To Intervene, After Superintendent Said No Imminent Threat, And Removed Trans Teacher Who Made Comments To Staff About Shooting Students And Then Herself.

10 Tampa Bay published April 11, 2023: Parents in Hernando County heated after teacher's alleged threat. The heated exchange comes after reports of a teacher at Fox Chapel Middle School made threatening comments just days before the mass shooting in Tennessee.
FOX 13 Tampa Bay published April 12, 2023: Florida teacher under fire for ‘concerning comments’. Parents in Hernando County want a middle school teacher to be fired over comments she is accused of making to another teacher though the superintendent won’t reveal exactly what she said.
FOX 13 Tampa Bay published April 13, 2023: Guns taken from Florida teacher who said she ‘wanted to shoot some students’: HCSO. A judge granted a risk protection order in the case of a Hernando County teacher who the school district said made “concerning" comments.

Fox13 News, Tampa Bay, Florida local
written by Jordan Bowen
Wednesday April 12, 2023

SPRING HILL, Fla. - A judge granted a risk protection order in the case of a Hernando County teacher who the school district said made "concerning" comments.

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said deputies confiscated guns from her home. While the school district said Tuesday night there was no imminent threat, parents said they're furious she hasn't been fired.

According to an incident report from the sheriff's office, the teacher in question told the Fox Chapel Middle School assistant principal she was "having bad thoughts" and "wanted to shoot some students."

Some parents who spoke with FOX 13 say until this teacher is fired they don't feel safe sending their kids back to school.

The incident report obtained by the group Moms for Liberty details what happened at Fox Chapel Middle School back on March 24.

In the report, the school resource officer says the assistant principal told him a teacher made "concerning comments about self-harm" and "shooting students." When the assistant principal visited the teacher's classroom the teacher told her she was "having bad thoughts."

Later the teacher told the guidance counselor she was upset, because she "learned about a social media post where people were talking negatively about her sexual orientation." She also told the counselor she "has suicidal thoughts" and "three handguns at home" and that she "wanted to shoot some students due to them not performing to their ability."

"My heart dropped the moment that I heard that it was confirmed that there was actual weapons inside of the household," said Aramis Rosario, a parent of a Fox Chapel Middle School student.

The report goes on to say after the teacher made the comments about wanting to shoot students she "immediately stated she would never harm a student" and "stated that she does not want to harm herself."

"Anybody that makes a comment like that should not be working in a school. If a student made that comment there would be charges pressed. The child would be expelled," said Mike Martini, another parent of a Fox Chapel Middle student.

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office confirmed to FOX 13 a judge granted a permanent Risk Protection Order the same day saying that three handguns and ammunition were removed from the teacher's home.

"What the report shows is that a team of professionals made up of school, district and law enforcement personnel followed all steps of the district’s threat assessment protocol to ensure this teacher was no danger to themselves or others," a Hernando County School District spokesperson said in a statement emailed to FOX 13 late Wednesday.

The teacher was cleared to return to the classroom a few days ago. FOX 13 made attempts to reach her for comment on this story, but our calls went unanswered. The risk protection order expires in one year.
The Post Millennial
written by Roberto Wakerell-Cruz
Friday April 14, 2023

The Florida Department of Education released a statement in response to a situation in a Hernando County school involving inappropriate comments made by a trans teacher to students.

The statement, which was released on Friday, states "Earlier this week, the Department was informed of a situation regarding student safety at a school in Hernando County."

It continues: "Upon the Department bringing the concern to the Superintendent Wednesday evening, only then did the district remove the teacher from school, effective yesterday, Thursday, April 13. Therefore, the teacher is no longer at the school."

Multiple concerned parents have reached out to FOX 13 with similar accounts of a teacher who allegedly made troubling remarks about harming students and themselves.

The school district stated that the comments were made out of frustration with student behavior, but refused to disclose the exact nature of the remarks, leading to tensions between parents and the school board.

The incident was reported on March 24 when a school resource officer was called to investigate reports from Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and Guidance Counselor Kimberly Walby, who claimed that a teacher had made statements about harming themselves and potentially shooting students.

According to a report obtained by Moms for Liberty Hernando County, Thornton had visited the classroom of teacher Ashlee Renczkowski and inquired about her well-being, to which Renczkowski responded that she was "not good" and was having bad thoughts.

After being alerted, Walby accompanied Renczkowski to her office where the teacher explained that she had discovered a social media post that was making derogatory comments about her sexual orientation and that of her wife, who also taught at the school.

Renczkowski disclosed to Thornton that she sometimes had suicidal thoughts and that there were three handguns at her home, but assured the resource officer that she had no intention of harming students.

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