Public Addresses Gun Incident at School

By Bruce Yarnall, Barnesville Area News

The first 45 minutes of the Barnesville School Board meeting on April 17 was devoted to public comments and discussion regarding the Monday, April 14 incident at Barnesville Elementary School when a student brought a gun and loaded clip into the classroom in a backpack.

First up was Dr. Amanda Fisher, Barnesville Chiropractor and Belmont County Coroner, who read a letter from her husband, Lance Fisher, who was unable to attend. 

Lance Fisher’s first response to the all-call bulletin from Superintendent Fuchs stating a gun and clip were found and that the police had control of the situation, was “what building did this occur at?”

Fisher waited for the expected text message and email that normally follows calls from the school “in case I misunderstood this very alarming message”, but no messages followed.  

Later, Fisher learned that a separate email message sent to Head Start parents did identify the building. These parents though did not receive the original all-call.

Fisher wrote the superintendent’s message and lack of follow up messaging was “vague and poor at best”.

“You owe every parent an apology, for your lack of communication and the time of silence. Facebook posts just do not cut it”, Fisher wrote.

Continuing the dialogue in person, Dr. Amanda Fisher spoke.

“Mr. Fuchs you told the news you train for this so what is that training? What is the protocol in this situation? Whose call was it to handle things in the way they were handled? These are the questions that I pose,” Fisher asked.    

Continuing, she said three separate elementary school staff members approached her asking for help getting out the word they did not know that this was happening until the end of the day.   

Fisher said, “hindsight is 20/20” and “perhaps this is a teaching moment for the district”.

“Yes, this is somewhat of a complaint. As a parent I feel the communications was severely lacking”.

“I would have loved a message at the end of the day from you Mr. Fuchs” addressing the questions or concerns of the parents, Fisher added.

“So, if I could ask for anything, I would hope this situation never arises again, but if we do, just have a little more clarity.”     

Administrator Clint Abbott shared that there was student training last week for where students were impressed upon that if they “see something or hear something”, to “say something.” Abbott also shared the steps quickly taken to ensure the situation was safe for the student, the teacher, other students and staff.   

“That teacher did everything perfect,” Abbott said.   

Sarah Shilling and her husband also addressed the board. She said, “the weapon was in the school building for almost two hours before it was discovered.”

“Is there anything you plan to put in place to prevent something like this in the future?”

“Two hours. Two hours too long. It (the gun) was shown to another child before it was reported because that child did not believe they would be believed,” Shilling added.

“Even though that child did not mean any harm, it was way too long.”

Also at the meeting was the mother of the student and a member of her residence who spoke to the Board. Acknowledging there was negligence, the student “took the gun to school only to show a buddy and with no intention of hurting anyone”.

The child’s mother apologized to the board for the incident.

Board member Dennis Huntsman said “this is the first time we’ve had to get together since the incident. We’ll do our best.”

Superintendent Fuchs explained administrators, “went around to the buildings that day to inform staff” but allowed the word was already starting to get out before administrators could tell every teacher about it.

“It was on the advice of legal counsel to protect everyone’s privacy as required by the Privacy Act”, Fuchs said, that no mention was made of the specific building involved.

“Communication is hard to be concise and accurate and also try to protect everyone involved”, Fuchs added.  

Returning to the dialogue, Fisher suggested keeping open lines of communication. “If it were to arise again, and if there is a next time, this is a learning opportunity.”

Addressing the concerns of the Fishers and Shillings, the superintendent said “we will be looking at what we can do better. We’re open to suggestions. We need to do better”.   

“It is also a good time to analyze our system,” Fuchs said adding they would also confer with (Barnesville Police) Chief Sirianni.         

And, as promised and requested by Dr. Fisher, Superintendent Fuchs issued this follow-up statement Friday:     

Good Afternoon, this is Micah Fuchs, Superintendent of Barnesville Schools

I want to begin by apologizing for the delay in sending out an update. It has been a very strenuous week for our school and community, and I appreciate your patience.

Please know that the safety of our students and staff remains our top priority.  Throughout the week, we have worked closely with Law Enforcement, the Ohio School Safety Center, Community, and Staff to review and strengthen our safety procedures.  

We are committed to continuous improvement and are thankful for the incredible support we receive from our community and the Barnesville Police Department. 

As we head into this holiday weekend, we reflect with gratitude and wish everyone a safe and Happy Easter.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!