Chester- Joplin- Inverness- suspends athlete

A Chester/Joplin-Inverness High School senior athlete's alleged threat to shoot a teacher in the head led to his suspension, caused student and parent protests and put the school on defense.

“Contrary to reports, a student athlete was not suspended for expressing his opinion. This student made a serious threat to shoot a C/J-I employee in the head,” C/J-I's lawyer, Elizabeth Kaleva from Missoula, said in an email statement.

C/J-I Superintendent Thad Kaiser did not return phone calls asking about the situation and principal David Jamison said he could not talk about it, referring questions to Kaleva.

According to Kaleva and KRTV's Margaret DeMarco, the incident was sparked when a school newspaper featured senior responses to what they would miss the least about C/J-I. One student, who, reportedly, is on the boys basketball team, said he'd miss the administration least. The student's answer, according to DeMarco's report, caused a heated discussion between the student and a teacher.

DeMarco's report says peaceful protests at the high school have been confirmed by the Liberty County Sheriff's office.

Kaleva said the student said, “I'm going to shoot you in the head.”

The threat prompted the school to suspend the student, “as we do with all students who make threats,” Kaleva's statement says.

Kaleva said over the phone she did not know anything about the student and parents’ reaction, if they were protesting or why. Her statement focused on the student who made the threat.

“We also encourage the student and his parents to seek a mental health evaluation to determine if the student is a danger to himself or others,” Kaleva's statement said.

The statement went on to say that the suspended student can return to school once an evaluation is complete.

DeMarco said that a mother of another student said the suspended student “has anger issues.”