SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Some parents in one of Central Florida’s largest school districts are calling for the superintendent to resign after a paraprofessional admitted he had “concerning” thoughts about students.
News 6 spoke with Emily Reardon, a mom of two students at Sabal Point Elementary, who said the superintendent failed to inform parents about what happened in a timely manner. She has now started an online petition calling for Superintendent Serita Beamon to step down.
“I felt like this was greater than a Sabal Point issue,” said Reardon. “I created that so it can go out to all of Seminole County so everybody’s voice can be heard.”
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According to a petition for a risk protection order obtained by News 6, the now former employee - a paraprofessional at Sabal Point — told a school resource officer on Sept. 24 that he had thoughts about harming students. The court filing states he told the officer he was frustrated with a child and thought about “cutting her throat with a knife” at school and he had previously had thoughts while being in the cafeteria about what it would be like to bring a gun to school.
The paraprofessional requested to be Baker Acted, according to the petition for risk protection order. The school district said he was also immediately placed on leave before he chose to resign.
Reardon said word started to spread amongst parents about what had happened, but they did not receive any notification from the school district until 9 days later on Oct. 3.
“We were on campus, and we were not sure of where he was, what steps had been done to ensure the safety of the campus or anything because parents had not been notified at that point in time,” said Reardon. “Where was he? Where was his keys? What had happened at the school? Why have we not been notified?”
Reardon told News 6 she didn’t feel that the initial statement the district shared on Oct. 3 was a sufficient response. She also spoke out at a school board meeting on Oct. 7 where parents showed up to address their concerns with the board.
“Quite frankly, I was incensed by the response of Superintendent Beamon. “She admitted at the meeting that she was made aware of the situation on September 24th , and then at the meeting on October 7th she still had not ever reached out to the school.”
Reardon called it “poor leadership.”
“I think that is somebody who is more concerned about her position and less concerned about the safety of her students and her school district,” said Reardon. “We ask the school board members to hold her accountable.”
News 6 spoke with school board member Kristine Kraus Monday, who said they are meeting with the superintendent and school safety and security team this week to review threat assessment protocols and other processes.
“We are going to do a deep dive into any of our processes that we currently have and how we can update then so that parents aren’t worried,” said Kraus. “We owe it to our stakeholders to provide them answers and assurances that we will do better and we can do better.”
Kraus said the incident is still under investigation.
“I would ask for their patience while we get through the investigation,” said Kraus. “The honest truth is I feel this is a communication failure. And that’s at least that’s my take on it right now, that we didn’t do what we needed to do, and I can assure our families that we will do better. We will. And, I am sorry for their anguish and their frustration.”
Last week, Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas wrote to school district superintendents, urging them to be cautious of who they hire after the situation in Seminole County left him “both disturbed and, frankly, exasperated.”
Seminole County Public Schools also shared the following message with families:
Good afternoon, SCPS families and staff,
We want to make you aware that the Florida Department of Education issued a memo this morning to all school district Superintendents across the state in response to the situation that occurred within our district. We are including the memo HERE for your review, which includes the state’s guidance for all K–12 public school districts in Florida.
Please know that all SCPS employees undergo a mandatory background check required by Florida statute, and we carefully follow all state and federal laws during the hiring process. We are well aware that the incident involving Sabal Point Elementary has uncovered a vulnerability in the process, and we are actively working to address this issue.
While this is a challenging time for our impacted school community and for Seminole County Public Schools, it also presents an opportunity for growth and deeper collaboration. We are fully committed to working closely with our school and district-based leaders, law enforcement partners, staff, families, and the Florida Department of Education to review our practices, identify areas for improvement, and strengthen our procedures moving forward.
Thank you.