Grand Forks School District considers case closed on Red River student expelled for making threats
Mar. 28—GRAND FORKS — At least two Grand Forks teachers told district administrators they were opposed to a student returning to school following a February incident that ultimately resulted in that student's expulsion, according to records obtained by the Herald.
The student, who will not be identified by the district, was expelled for making threats against Red River High School last month. They will be barred from attending Grand Forks Public Schools for the remainder of the school year and will be prohibited from attending Red River in the future, according to documents obtained by the Herald.
Under the terms of the expulsion, the student is not to be present on school district property or attend school-sponsored events, and a no-trespass order will be issued to keep the student from stepping onto Red River's grounds past the end of the school year.
The student will be offered alternative education options, including online coursework in lieu of attending class. Under state law, an expulsion cannot last beyond the end of the current school year.
A district spokesperson declined to comment on the incident.
Red River parents and guardians were first notified of "a threat of violence directed toward Red River High School" on the evening of Feb. 15.
"Immediate action was taken by the school administration and police department to investigate the threat and ensure our school is safe," an email sent to families read.
An email sent to Red River teachers by Principal Kris Arason indicated the threat had been made by a student toward Red River and police had responded and contained the situation.
An expulsion hearing for the student was held March 4. On March 5, Associate Superintendent Catherine Gillach, listed as the hearing officer, issued the expulsion notice, citing the "student's culpability, harm caused, and the significant emotional impact (the unnamed student's) willful actions had on both staff and students."
The nature of the threat and whether the student had the capacity to carry it out remains unclear.
Text messages between Arason, Superintendent Terry Brenner, Communications and Marketing Manager Melissa Bakke and an unspecified third person show administrators discussing whether to characterize the threat as "credible" in the email ultimately sent to parents.
Arason described the threat as credible but also fretted about using the term "contained" in public correspondence, noting "it makes it sound like it was a real threat." (Administrators decided to use both "contained" and "credible" in the email, but it was excluded due to a communication error.)
Grand Forks police Lt. Andrew Stein told the Herald the department could provide no further details since it was an open case involving a juvenile, and referred the Herald to the Grand Forks Juvenile Court.
Two Red River teachers reached out to Gillach, Arason and other Red River administrators on Feb. 20 to say they were opposed to the student returning to Red River or Grand Forks Public Schools.
"When it comes specifically to reflecting on our interactions and knowledge of (the student) as teachers, we do not feel comfortable with the return of this student at any point to our school or district," read an email cosigned by the teachers.
That email suggests specific staff or students were threatened in addition to the school generally, referring to "the threat that was made towards not only (emphasis added) Red River High School on Thursday, February, 15," with the rest of the sentence redacted.
Records show the student had been the subject of five separate disciplinary reports since September, none of which mention violence. Four of the five incidents occurred over the span of a week in mid-September, and principally concerned the student's use of their phone in class.
