Many Tipp City parents are concerned about the safety procedures in place at one of the high schools. Now, their concerns could have cost the school district’s superintendent his job.
Last December at Tippecanoe Middle School—an eighth grade boy verbally threatened a female classmate.
“There was some references to shooting someone,” recalled Tipp City School Superintendent Mark Stefanik.
According to Stefanik, administrators followed district policies and procedures—the boy was removed from class and taken to the assistant principal. Parents of both students were contacted and the boy was suspended.
By the next day, administrators contacted Tipp City Police—who investigated the matter. No weapons were found on campus and no one was hurt.
Stefanik said his team balanced student confidentiality with maintaining a safe environment. About 30-days after the incident–all families received a formal letter notifying them.
“Student safety, your child’s safety, that’s of utmost importance,” explained Stefanik.
But he said this didn’t go over well with some families.
“Although I’ve said this to parents, they believe those words ring hollow because we didn’t select the notification system where the entire building, the entire district received a message back on December 7th," Stefanik stated.
Tipp City school board members were also just notified. During an emergency meeting on January 4, the board unanimously voted to not renew Stefanik’s contract for the next school year.
Over the next several months, Stefanik said his team will enhance safety protocols and communicate to the entire district if any future violent threats occur at a school.
WYSO reached out to Tipp City’s school board members, but no one returned our calls.
