Greensburg Salem parents have raised concerns about school safety following a recent middle school incident and a board member’s Facebook post referencing the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide case in Wisconsin.

Speaking at the December school board meeting this week, Valerie Stillwagon criticized district administrators for not informing herself and other parents shortly before Thanksgiving about an alleged threat involving the middle school.

District parents Autumn Jevicky and Julie Greathouse denounced a Facebook post by Jeff Metrosky, the new school board president. They want him to resign. The post in question shared a joke about Rittenhouse, who a jury acquitted Nov. 19 of homicide and related charges for killing two men and wounding a third with a semi-automatic rifle during 2020 protests in Kenosha, Wis.

Metrosky told the Tribune-Review he would not comment and said his personal Facebook account has no bearing on the district.

The day before Thanksgiving, parents saw information on social media “regarding a knife and threats made to students,” Stillwagon said. But, she said, there was no official word from the district about the alleged incident.

“If this involves a weapon in the school, potentially endangering children that I love, not just mine, yes, I want to know about it,” she told the board.

Superintendent Ken Bissell said information spread through social media “was not accurate as far as what happened.” But, he said he couldn’t discuss the incident because of confidentiality issues.

“Everything has been resolved,” he said. “It’s a student issue more so than a discipline issue.”

Stillwagon questioned why there was no communication from Greensburg Salem concerning the middle school incident, although Bissell had posted on the district website on Nov. 10 to inform parents when a student brought a weapon to the high school.

In the high school incident, which was investigated by Greensburg police, a 10th-grade boy was facing charges in juvenile court after a loaded 9 mm handgun was discovered in his backpack.

“At no time was the weapon brought out at school or used to threaten other students,” Bissell said in the Nov. 10 web post. “At no time did this event interfere with the school operations, teaching or learning. The district security measures worked to immediately eliminate any threat.”

In a more recent video post, Bissell said the district is working with Greensburg police “to provide first responder lockdown and evacuation training for all staff and students during the 2021-22 school year.

“We’re also moving forward with a safety and security focus group discussion for students, parents and staff, to gather feedback on making our children more physically, socially and emotionally safe in our schools and community.”

He added, “If you see something or know something that could present a safety threat to our children or community, say something.”

Jevicky, who made an unsuccessful bid for a school board seat this year, said Metrosky’s Facebook post sent the wrong message in the wake of the the gun incident at the high school.

The post states: “The hot new drink in Wisconsin is called a Rittenhouse. It’s a chaser followed by a shot. Everybody always orders three.”

“We have a school board president who is actively undermining the example we of this school district are striving to set in regard to the safety of our schools,” Jevicky said, holding that the post is “a mockery of people who were killed…”

Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, said he went to Kenosha to protect property from rioters but that he came under attack and feared for his life. Authorities said the weapon he was carrying was illegally purchased for him because he was underage.

Greathouse charged that Metrosky “lacks an awareness of what is appropriate public discourse from an elected official.”

“The Facebook post regarding the Kyle Rittenhouse incident is not reflective of my values and I absolutely do not support the behavior by an elected official,” school board member Lynn Jobe said.

“We’re all entitled to our beliefs,” Metrosky said.

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