By Carol Stiffler
A Tahquamenon Area Schools (TAS) student posted a desperately sad video on TikTok last week, and word of it spread like wildfire.
The student, who will not be identified, spoke tearfully about school and openly wished for a school shooting to take place someday when the student isn’t in attendance. It wasn’t a threat, but it landed like one. In the same video, the student admitted the wish was terrible and that fellow students didn’t deserve to be hurt.
On Tuesday, September 17, a concerned fellow student brought the video to the attention of Newberry High School Principal Trevor Clark, and Resource Officer Zach Kitzman, who took it seriously. Clark and Kitzman questioned the student who made the video, who cooperated and took the video down.
“Officer Kitzman continued his investigation outside the building,” Clark said. “At this point, Officer Kitzman and I had discussed the item that was posted. It was found that there was no viable threat after that discussion.”
But the TikTok video had already been saved by at least one other person, and it continued to spread.
Clark received a lot of communication from worried parents. He drafted a short letter, shared online, that attempted to address the situation. Because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Clark could not include specific details about the student or any repercussions that followed.
“I realize that the letter caused more concern,” Clark said.
Superintendent Stacy Price wrote a second letter that day, attempting to reassure families that there was no threat. The district didn’t cancel school for the following day.
“We would have closed if law enforcement had said ‘This is a viable threat’,” Price said. “It was told to us very early that this is not viable. This is a young person in need of help.”
The next day, 365 students missed at least part of the school day. With an enrollment of about 500 students, that was a 73% absence rate.
Junior Renanah Weller was one of two 11th grade girls who attended school on Wednesday, September 18. Her mother, natural health practitioner Jen Weller, asked her if she felt comfortable going to school. Renanah said she wanted to attend, so she did.
It was a quiet day, she reported back to her mother. She sat with an acquaintance at lunch, and students were treated to seconds or even thirds.
Jen Weller said she’s teaching her children not to live in fear.
“We have a resource officer there now. They have to do their job. They can’t always tell you everything, but they investigated,” she said. “But if they investigated, we need to start teaching our kids to trust.”
Students at school were safe during and after the entire incident, Price assured. And though specific details can’t be shared, the district has access to and uses a team of professionals including a social worker, behavioral specialist, and partners with agencies outside the district to assist students in need. Some or all of these resources are in play now.
“The school did what they could and it’s hard because they couldn’t share all the pieces of what they did. I think people jump to conclusions that ‘nothing’ was happening. I don’t believe that to be the case,” Jen Weller said. “I think we have to start, incrementally maybe, trusting Tahquamenon Area Schools.”
