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NELSON COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - Parents and students in Nelson County are demanding answers after a fight and other factors closed schools for two days.
Nelson County Public Schools announced early Monday, August 30, that the sheriff’s office was investigating online threats against the schools.
Schools were also closed Friday, August 27, due in part to an incident at the high school the day before involving law enforcement. Video on social media appeared to show two uniformed officers pinning a person to the floor.
“My son Tilor Harper was trying to assist his cousin with an altercation, and things got out of hand when the police came on the scene,” Amber Harper said Monday.
Harper and was joined by others during a protest outside the post office in Lovingston.
Students at the protest described a classmate being thrown to the ground by two men from the sheriff’s office.
“They saw it as being confrontational, I guess that’s the word they use, but he was walking over there to towards his cousin and then all I remember seeing is the one officer picking them up with one hand and then he slammed him and both of them jumped on him as he was trying to get back up,” Myia Brown, a junior at NCHS, said.
Amber Harper says her son was sticking up for a family member.
“I don’t understand why it’s a bunch of kids out here protesting and not any of the adults that were in the hallway,” Myia said.
Harper is asking the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office to stop its investigation and allow Virginia State Police to step in.
The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office says it can’t comment because this is an ongoing investigation with a minor. Meanwhile, Virginia State Police will not comment because it involves an elected official.
In a statement, Superintendent Martha J. Eagle says additional counseling services and adults will be available to all students throughout the coming days. She also says they will work with students, “in the most appropriate manner to allow an opportunity for sharing their concerns or thoughts in a productive process.”
In an additional statement, Superintendent Eagle said that “At this time, NCSO staff have identified those who made these threats and they determined that the individuals who did so did not have the means to carry them out.” The full statement is below.
08/30/2021 Statement from Superintendent Martha J. Eagle:
The Nelson County Public Schools community is saddened by the recent events that have impacted our school division over the past several days. We need to be very clear concerning our stance towards misconduct and as forthcoming as it relates to the recent social media threats made against our school division.
Today, we made the decision to close our school buildings in response to threats of violence -- made over social media -- against our schools. The decision to close schools today was made in the best interest of safety and to allow law enforcement officials time to investigate these claims thoroughly.
Throughout the day today, we have worked with the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office to assist them as they have worked their investigation. At this time, NCSO staff have identified those who made these threats and they determined that the individuals who did so did not have the means to carry them out. Based on the circumstances of the investigation, these are the only details we can release at this time. Again, there are no further known threats.
We want to be clear: threats made against this school division will not be tolerated. At Nelson County Public Schools, we have no tolerance for threats of any sort, whether made in-person or online. Any threat made against our students or our school buildings, will be immediately reported to local law enforcement. All students must understand that making threats can, and will, result in serious legal and disciplinary consequences.
As you know, these threats have caused a disruption to our student’s learning schedule. Accordingly, we have worked with the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office and they will be providing additional officers and extra layers of security at all four of our campuses on Tuesday. The safety of our students and staff is -- and always will be -- our top priority! We will continue to partner with the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office to ensure our buildings are safe. Additionally, we will continue to support all of our students in the most appropriate manner to process the recent events. We will provide them the opportunity to seek support in the additional counseling services and extra school staff provided to allow the sharing of their concerns or thoughts in a productive process.
NCPS will resume school on Tuesday and return to the task at hand, which is preparing our students for success.
08/30/2021 Nelson County Public Schools’ Facebook post:
Nelson County Public Schools (VA) will be closed today, Monday, August 30, 2021. The Nelson County Sheriff’s Department is working to investigate threats on social media regarding violence toward our schools. Anyone who has any information regarding these threats is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Dept. as they are very serious and concerning. Our top priority is the safety of our students and staff.
08/30/2021 Statement from Superintendent Martha J. Eagle:
As we work through the events of this past week, we understand there are many emotions to work through as we move forward. In order to provide additional support for our high school students and an opportunity to process these recent events in a productive manner, additional counseling services and adults will be available to all students throughout the coming days.
We have provided avenues for our students to express their concerns and we encourage them to use these resources. My job as Superintendent is to ensure students are able to learn in an environment that is free from disruptions, so students who skip class, leave class without permission, or disrupt the environment will be subject to disciplinary action.
We support all of our students and want to work with them in the most appropriate manner to allow an opportunity for sharing their concerns or thoughts in a productive process.
Our administrative teams work to process all discipline in a fair and consistent manner. If a student ever feels like we haven’t been fair, we want to address that, and the way we do that is by asking those students to come forward and walk us through where they’re seeing unfair treatment. And certainly, if we look into their concerns and the concerns are valid, we’ll address it at that time.
RELEATED: Nelson Co. schools closed Aug. 27 due heat, COVID-19, and investigation
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