A local mother, whose identity we are not revealing to protect her son's identity, alleges leaders at Lake Worth Christian School met to talk about school safety and started naming off potential problem kids in the wake of the Parkland tragedy. She said the school superintendent told her that her son's name was the first to come up in that meeting.
The mother told WPTV NewsChannel 5 she didn't know where to turn, so she came to us, with the sole purpose of not having this happen to another student.
"I was heartbroken. I didn't sleep for the first two nights," she said. "I've been crying, trying to figure out how I can fix this for my son but I can't."
The mother of the teenage boy at Lake Worth Christian School said she is still in disbelief about what the school superintendent had to say about her son. She said in a meeting with school officials over a driving on campus offense, they informed her that her son was not welcome back next school year. She said she never got details why.
"He referred to the Parkland tragedy, said after the Parkland tragedy, there was a meeting to see how safe their school is and what they could do to prevent something like that," she said. " He asked the question...does anyone at our school, does anyone at our school who you think would do this? Would commit this type of act? And he said myself, as well as several others, your son's name was the first that everyone mentioned."
She said she was so taken aback she couldn't speak.
"My son immediately raised his hand in the meeting and said, do you think I'm going to come shoot up your school?" she said. "And he (the school superintendent) paused because I think he realized what he said 'well maybe not that...not that on that grand of scale,' " she said.
The mother admits the school has disciplined her son three times, but nothing that would rise to this level. On the other hand, she provided me her son's report card that shows better than average grades.
"Why wouldn't he call the authorities if he really thought that way with this whole thing see something say something? My heart was broken. I was shocked," she said.
WPTV NewsChannel 5 reached out to Lake Worth Christian School Superintendent Jim Hardwood. He declined to do an interview on camera saying he is shocked this is a story. In that same conversation, he said if they really thought a student was indeed a danger, the student would not be in school now. He also denied the meeting or the conversation ever happened.
Harwood issued a statement that reads in part:
"This issue with which we are dealing with is an internal school Matter relating to our own policies procedures and regulations out of respect for our families we do not relate the specific details of individual circumstances."
The mother said she is not sure if she will take legal action against the school or where her son will attend classes next year.
