'200' Students Pulled from School Due to Gun Threat

North Hampton School administrators say they are unable to release specifics about how they're handling one 11-year-old student's threat to shoot another child with a shotgun while on school grounds, although they emphasize that there presently is no risk to child safety. 

"There is no safety risk at the school right now," school Principal Peter Sweet told Patch on Monday. "The police chief has said that, and we've said that consistently [to parents over the past few days]."

Sweet said about "200" of NHS' 460 students were called out of school Monday by their parents as a result of the incident, which Sweet said occurred afterschool Thursday at around 3 p.m., just before a cross-country meet on school property.

Details of the incident — which was reported to the school early Friday morning — didn't come to light until over the weekend, though, after a variety of e-mails shared through the community. Sweet said the e-mails likely contributed to parents being "nervous to send children to school" on Monday, several days after the incident.

Numerous parents contacted Patch Sunday night and Monday morning about the incident. Many expressed various concerns about the safety and wellbeing of local children due to the incident, and many said they weren't comfortable having their children in school Monday.

The threat was "dealt with... first thing" on Friday, according to Sweet, and he said the school has spoken extensively with the students and parents on "both sides" of the incident.

A "safety plan" has been put in place in response to the threat, although Sweet said it is "child-specific," which means he cannot release details of the plan or the specific action NHS will take. 

"We have a great relationship with both sets of parents, and again we continue to work with them," said Sweet. "They both want what is best for their children."

Sweet declined to say whether the student who made the threat was still allowed to be at school on Friday and Monday, although North Hampton Police Chief Brian Page has told Patch that a decision has been made to allow the student to remain in classes.

"As of this morning at 0745 hours on Friday and today the child was going to remain in school, per the decision of the Principal and the Superintendent," wrote Page in an e-mail on Monday. "I am not aware if that decision has changed since." 

Sweet said the two students involved in the incident don't share the same classes, but are in the same grade level.

Sweet declined to speak about possible past threats, altercations or incidents involving the two students, although he said "each incident has been investigated and has never got to the point of bullying."

"They haven't met the criteria" for bullying, as outlined in the school's guidelines and policies, said Sweet.

The parents of the victim wrote in an e-mail that their child has been the target of what they described as "bullying" from the other student for the past two years. That "bullying" has included verbal abuse, hitting, kicking, pushing and other forms of physical abuse, in addition to at least one attempt to feed urine-soaked carrots to the victim, according to the victim's parents.

The parents of the victim say they "feel deeply the child and any situation or stress that may be causing" the child's behavior, and the parents say they are coming forward now in order to allow other families "to make safety decisions" — not because they're seeking retribution against the other student. 

"We are not even looking for disciplinary action, we are looking for the school to intervene appropriately and use its resources to help this child in a meaningful way," wrote the parents of the victim.

Every classroom at NHS has classroom meetings throughout the year to "talk about issues" and how the students can "advocate for themselves" if they are put in a position in which they are uncomfortable or unsafe, according to Sweet.

No special conversations or assemblies are planned with the student body as a result of the gun threat because of this social-learning curriculum, according to  Sweet. He said additional special conversations will be conducted "only if there's a need for [it] by grade levels or by ages."




The following is a North Hampton School statement about the incident, released Monday afternoon:

The safety and well being of our students and staff are our utmost priority. On Thursday, September 26th, one student allegedly made a verbal threat to shoot another student with a shotgun. School Administration was made aware of it that evening. School Administration and the Chief of Police met with  parents the following day. We also immediately took  measures to ensure the safety of our students and staff and the security of our school. We continue, at this time to work with the Chief of Police and the parties involved to investigate the incident and to implement the supports required to maintain everyone’s safety. To that end, a specific safety plan has been implemented at the school and we are confident that the incident presents no current risk to the safety of our students or staff. We can assure that this matter has been handled in accord with the laws regarding the safe school zones act. We wish to thank North Hampton Police Department for their support and assistance in this matter. 

Due to the young age of the minors involved and the state and federal privacy laws we are unable to release any specific information on this incident.