HEBRON, Ky. — A northern Kentucky student who police said made terroristic threats against other students is now back in the same school as some of those students. Parents in this district are demanding answers from their school board and superintendent.
Close friends Jenna Murray and Daniel Campbell both have children who attend Conner High School. Campbell works for Boone County Schools, and Murray volunteers for the district as a PTA, but they said they wanted to speak to Spectrum News 1 as parents, first and foremost.
They said they’re concerned about the safety of students at their kids’ school, which is not something they expected to be dealing with a little more than a year after the first time they felt that way.
“I was shocked. This is Hebron, Kentucky,” Campbell said about the arrest of a Conner Middle School student in 2021.
“It absolutely didn’t cross our minds that it would be an issue, or return to Conner High School,” Murray said.
According to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, on Nov. 23, 2021, a school resource officer was informed of a Conner Middle School student who had a notebook containing specified acts of violence.
The sheriff’s office said the student admitted to writing the list, but insisted he wasn’t planning to carry out the acts, just writing down thoughts in his head. The notebook identified individuals and how he would locate them or have them respond to an area where he would encounter them.
“I’ve just heard from some of those parents, and from other eighth-grade students, that it was over 30,” Murray said.
Murray and Campbell’s kids were not on the list.
“But it was still very scary to have someone take thoughts that were in his head and put them on paper in such a detailed way against so many kids that he was so angry at, that he wanted to kill them,” Murray said. “It affected the whole community, and that whole campus. It was a little terrifying. But you know, we were all told this child was removed from the public school system and was arrested.”
The 14-year-old was charged with second degree terroristic threats.
After being expelled for a year, the student, who is now a freshman, is back at Conner High School, with many of the same students he attended Conner Middle School with, including students listed in the notebook.
According to Murray, Superintendent Matt Turner informed Conner High School Principal Andy Wyckoff a few days before winter break was over that the student would be returning to school.
Wykoff then informed parents of students who were written down in the notebook, but word quickly spread, Murray said.
“As a father of the child on the active kill list, my statements will reflect my opinion based on the information I received from conner high school. When I received the call from the principal, it was emotionally devastating. All I could think about was my child in danger, when they did nothing wrong,” said Rob Bidleman at a Boone County School Board meeting on Jan. 12.
Bidleman was one of the many parents who expressed their frustration at the meeting. Murray and Campbell did as well.
“I had to go to this one. Because I felt very strongly that the rights of the kids needed to be protected,” Campbell said. “Why does it have to be at the same school, or same campus where it happened?”
Murray said she had several questions she wanted answered.
“Why Conner High School? Why come back at all? How was this decision made?” she said. “I feel a lot of people are frustrated that it came down to one person having to interpret the laws and make the decision.”
The person she is referring to is Boone County Superintendent Matt Turner, who didn’t speak about the issue at the meeting. He wrote a letter to parents.
Boone County Schools declined Spectrum News 1’s request for an interview.
Murray said the added safety measures have included more SROs, and more attention being paid to the student in question.
Still, some parents have pulled their kids from school.
“He does not belong in a classroom with my child. I’m not taking that risk,” said one parent at the school board meeting. “And it’s going to be on all of you if something happens.”
Murray and Campbell both said they feel safe enough to keep sending their kids to school, but they won’t stop asking for answers.
“We know this will happen again, other threats against staff, against other students. And there just needs to be a better process in place. Rather than one day they disappear, you hear why, and then one day they just reappear. It’s stressful for the teachers, too,” Murray said.
Murray questioned why the district’s alternative school, Rise Academy, couldn’t be used.
“And we can’t just sweep this under the carpet like it never happened. We need to understand,” Campbell said.
They’re telling their kids to share any concerns they have, and to not take part in any efforts to antagonize the student. Murray and Campbell both said the student needs to be supported, but they don’t think it should take place at Conner High School.
“We also feel this is a tough situation for the student, somebody who struggled with stress and anxiety, and turned it into violent thoughts,” Murray said.
Principal Wyckoff said his own son was also one of the threatened students. Many parents, including Murray and Campbell, have spoken out to support Wyckoff, saying he’s been put in a difficult position.
Wyckoff told parents his son will remain at Conner High School.