Parents call for Canfield Superintendent's resignation over handling of student threat
CANFIELD, Ohio - Tension at a Canfield School Board meeting ran over Wednesday night.
The city police chief accused the superintendent of misrepresenting facts to parents. Several parents then called for the superintendent's resignation. And at least one parent was escorted out of the meeting by police.
All of the controversy and comments were sparked by the district's handling of an alleged student threat made last week.
"This is completely, completely beyond my mental comprehension that a child threatened to shoot another child and you choose to do nothing," said the mother of a child allegedly threatened to be shot by another student.
She spoke out to the board in front of a crowded meeting. Her comments were specifically addressing Superintendent Alex Geordan.
"Mr. Geordan, you lied. You flat out, point blank lied. You sent out an all-call, and you lied," said the mother.
Her accusation was backed by a comment from Canfield Police Chief Chuck Colucci.
He was the first to address the board and accused Geordan of sending an "all call" to middle school parents containing what he called "several misrepresentations of the facts."
"Superintendent Geordan advised that the suspect child was removed from the school. The student was not removed from the school. The child was reportedly secured in an office. The child then rode a school bus home," said Colucci.
Chief Colucci also stated that both the superintendent and the middle school assistant principal were made aware of the threat, yet neither reported the threat to the school resource officer and police.
"It is 2019, and the idea that a school administrator, school administrators, would fail to report a threat of violence to local law enforcement is beyond comprehension," said Colucci.
The school board president again reiterated the district made a mistake in how they handled the situation.
"We have admitted, the district has admitted they've made a mistake. Period. There will be consequences," said School Board President David Wilkeson.
And although Wilkeson said the board would not discuss employee disciplinary details, some in the crowd started to call for Geordan's resignation.
"Why aren't you resigning? That's what I want to know," said one man.
And while Geordan showed little reaction to the comments, the council president signaled for the police chief to stop the man from speaking, yet the chief didn't immediately respond.
It was instead another officer that escorted the man out, but first, the man stopped to shake the chief's hand and thank him for his transparency.
After the meeting, Superintendent Geordan told 21 News he has no plans to resign. And will do everything in his power to protect every student and staff member.
"I view each and every youngster in this district like they are my own and I will continue to do so as we move forward we will protect all parties involved, staff and students," said Geordan.
Before the regularly scheduled school board meeting, the board met for two hours in an executive session to discuss the employment of a public employee. No public action was taken following that meeting.
The board also met in executive session following the regularly scheduled board meeting.
