Parents sound off after Robbinsdale Area Public Schools takes days to report gun incident to police
NEW HOPE, Minn. – Parents had a chance Monday night to give school leaders a piece of their minds after a video circulated on social media that appears to show a student holding a gun inside a Twin Cities school.
It happened two weeks ago at Sandburg Middle School in Golden Valley. Police say it occurred on a Friday, but they weren't notified by school officials until the following Monday after journalists started asking questions.
At the Robbinsdale Area Public Schools board meeting in New Hope, parents had strong words for the board members in charge of the district and the safety of students.
For some Sandburg parents like Kyle Perleberg, this was a protest as much as a board meeting.
"It's frightening," Perleberg said. "Guns should never be in a school. Guns should never be in the possession of a juvenile."
The district – also known as Independent School District 281 – is reviewing its weapons policy after allegations of two students with guns on campus: one in Sandburg, and another reported last week inside Robbinsdale Middle School.
"You have failed the staff and students of 281 by not listening, by not knowing about the day-to-day happenings within our schools," said a parent in the meeting.
Erik Fadden, the police chief of Plymouth – which also has schools in the district – attended Monday night's meeting. He says the district's delay in contacting police about the Sandburg incident is unimaginable to him.
"Their first call was not to the police. That is frustrating for me as a police chief," Fadden said.
The board will be looking at changing that, requiring principals to call police as soon as possible.
"If there's something that comes out in that incident review that suggests that we need to have changes, that we will make them," said District Board Chair Helen Bassett.
The board is expected to vote on that change in their next meeting.
A social worker and parent in the district said remind your children about "See Something, Say Something" – and that it's not being a snitch, it's about safety.
