Lovell students expelled for social media threats
LOVELL (WNE) — Emphasizing the importance of school safety, the Lovell School Board voted to expel two students who had earlier made threats on social media and were arrested by police for their actions.
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LOVELL (WNE) — Emphasizing the importance of school safety, the Lovell School Board voted to expel two students who had earlier made threats on social media and were arrested by police for their actions.
After discussing the matter in executive session on March 12, the board voted to expel one Lovell Middle School student and one Lovell High School student for 175 school days – the equivalent of one school year — for “posting violent threats geared toward their classmates on social media,” Supt. Rick Woodford reported.
Woodford noted the collaborative effort between the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Department and the Lovell Police Department during the incident.
“There were two deputies in every building,” Woodford said. “The sheriff’s department really stepped up.”
He added that the LPD did a good job investigating the case and that he appreciated the agencies’ teamwork on the case.
“The school district values a safe learning environment as a top priority,” Woodford said. “The school board and administration are serious about keeping students safe and will take any threat seriously.”
According to information released earlier by the Lovell Police Department, the two boys were arrested on Thursday, Feb. 22, and taken into police custody for making “terroristic threats.” They appeared before a judge and immediately taken to a detention facility after making threats on the social media site Instagram, police said at the time.
Monday’s motion on the issue grants Superintendent Woodford the authority to provide the students with educational services in an “alternate setting as deemed appropriate.”
