Angry Parents, Teachers Say Schools Failed To Protect Staff, Kids

NEWPORT NEWS, VA — Nearly two weeks after police said a 6-year-old shot his teacher in a Newport News classroom, angry parents and teachers lambasted school authorities Tuesday, accusing them of not doing enough to protect children and staff.

During a three-hour school Newport News school board meeting dedicated solely to public comment, teachers and parents said students who assaulted classmates and staff were routinely allowed to stay in the classroom with few consequences.

They also said the shooting of teacher Abigail Zwerner, a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School, could have been prevented if not for a toxic environment in which concerns are systemically ignored.

"Every day in every one of our schools, teachers, students and other staff members are being hurt," high school librarian Nicole Cooke told the board. "Every day, they’re hit. They’re bitten. They’re beaten. And they’re allowed to stay so that our numbers look good."

According to police, the boy is accused of intentionally shooting 25-year-old Zwerner inside a classroom on Jan. 6. There was no warning and no struggle before the 6-year-old fired, police said.

Police said the boy took his mother's 9mm handgun to school, pulled it from his backpack and used it to shoot his teacher. Zwerner was shot in the chest with injuries initially considered to be life-threatening.

Police said they don't know how the child found the gun or how he learned to fire it.

Newport News Superintendent of Schools George Parker told parents during a meeting last week that a school official was notified about the weapon before the shooting; however, no gun was found after the child's backpack was searched.

• RELATED: Boy's Backpack Searched Before Newport News School Shooting: Report

Virginia law prohibits leaving a loaded gun where it is accessible to a child under 14, a misdemeanor crime punishable with a maximum one-year prison sentence and a $2,500 fine. So far, no charges have been brought against the boy's mother.

Following Parker's comments, shock turned into anger throughout Newport News Public Schools.

Zwerner's shooting was “completely preventable — if the red flags had been taken seriously and proper procedures clearly communicated and followed," Amber Thomas, a former school psychologist in Newport News, told the board.

Thomas left the school system early in 2022 after working there for a decade. In an interview with The Associated Press, she recalled a time when a "teacher was assaulted by a student — and that student faced no disciplinary action at all."

"There were situations in which the administrators walked away from things that were happening," Thomas said. "A school counselor and I were often called to intervene with explosive behaviors. And the administrator would see what was going on and turn around and walk the other way and never assist or do anything to follow up."

Middle school teacher Cindy Connell said administrators are more concerned with imperiling a school’s accreditation rather than disciplining kids.

"I think that our administrators are under an intense pressure to make everything appear better than it is in reality,” Connell said. “And that approach, over the course of a number of years, has put us where we are today."

Desiree Yvette, a parent of a student in Zwerner's class, told school board members her daughter was bullied and Zwerner was an "advocate" for her, according to ABC News.

"This should have been isolated beforehand to prevent Ms. Zwerner from getting hurt, because she was defending and protecting your children," Desiree said. "You guys should have been defending her — protecting her when whoever came in [and] said that there was a possible weapon in that child's backpack."

Since the shooting, other Virginia school districts are considering heightened security to ease fears. In Prince William County, officials are exploring a new security screening technology that could be at schools as soon as August 2023.

In her letter to the community emphasizing the district's focus on safety, Prince William school superintendent LaTanya McDade cited the shooting at Richneck.

Prior to the shooting at Richneck, Newport News schools endured two other shootings. In September 2021, two 17-year-old students were wounded when a 15-year-old boy fired shots in a crowded high school hallway after he had a fight with one of the students.

Two months after that shooting, an 18-year-old student fatally shot a 17-year-old in the parking lot of a different high school after a football game. Police said the teens exchanged “gestures” in the gym before an altercation broke out.

Last week, the Newport News school board announced that 90 walk-through metal detectors would be placed in schools, starting with the elementary school where Zwerner was shot.

The step failed to satisfy many parents at Tuesday night's board meeting.

Parent Doug Marmon suggested the placement of two security officers at each elementary school. He also wants the school system to change how it addresses student behavior, which he said has “proven ineffective."

“Students need to be held accountable for their actions, regardless of age or circumstances — not transferred to another school or placed in a different classroom,” he said. “Equality in our schools should not include the suffering of the majority for the lack of discipline for the few."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

READ MORE:

• Newport News Shooting: Can 6-Year-Old's Mother Be Charged?
  
• 6-Year-Old Used Mom's Gun To Shoot Teacher: VA Police Chief
• Newport News School Shooting: 6-Year-Old Shoots Teacher In Classroom