The Paris News

BOGATA — A case of alleged terroristic threats by fourth grade students has surfaced in the Rivercrest Independent School District and threatens to be a heated controversy at the school board meeting at 6 p.m. today.

School Superintendent Rickey Logan confirmed the story Wednesday and played down the rumors of a Columbine-style threat to the school.

According to many upset parents in the district, two fourth grade boys wrote in a journal and even drew a map of the school and their plan to attack and kill people.

There also was a “hit list” in the journal.

Logan confirmed the boys had written those things in a journal in English class.

“Although we took it very seriously, they had no weapons at all,” Logan said. “The boys had been playing video games, and we took their journal comments seriously enough we thought they should be punished.”

The boys were sent to an alternative situation 10 days and are still doing several disciplinary programs, Logan said.

He said he could not comment on other discipline the boys are facing.

“We felt we handled it correctly,” Logan said. “If we had an outside intruder making the threats, we would have turned it over to authorities, but dealing with students, the only thing we have to control is the people involved.”

The boys showed the journal entries to a fourth grade girl, and allegedly told her they would kill her if she told anyone.

She turned them in, and the parents of the girl have pulled her from the school and put her in a home school program.

“It was the father’s decision to withdraw the girl from school,” Logan said. “It was his choice. I told him she is safe in our school, and that I am not going to allow anyone to harm anyone in our classes. ”

A rumor that spread quickly said a principal had brought the girl in to face the boys after she reported the incident, but Logan said that never happened.

Asked why he did not send a letter to parents, warning them of the incident, Logan said: “I did not want to send a letter until I had fully investigated it.”

He said no parents have come in with a complaint, as they are supposed to do to go through the proper procedure.

Kathleen Sessums of Bogata has asked to speak at a public forum during the school board meeting.

“She (Sessums) has never come to us about this,” Logan said. “She will be able to speak in open forum for five minutes at the board meeting, after which we will take no action. If others wish to speak, they will have to select one among them who can speak for five minutes.”

Sessums said the incident happened on March 9 and has been kept “hush, hush” at the school.

She said even the school board was not told about the incident until March 30.

“The two boys have not been charged,” Sessums said. “One is under age 10, and both should be placed in alternative school.”

Sessums said the boys’ journal indicated they wanted to kill as many people as they could, and also indicated they planned to recruit others to help them.

“We are asking the immediate removal of the superintendent and the elementary principal for their actions or their inactions,” she said.

The boys are students at Rivercrest Elementary School in Bogata.

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