Parents press Troy board for clearer discipline and notification policies after toy gun incident at Concord Elementary

Parents at Monday's Troy Board of Education meeting pressed the board to tighten discipline documentation and school notification practices after a recent incident at Concord Elementary in which a student brought an object some adults believed to resemble a firearm.

Andrew Bush and other parents said the district's incident reporting lacks transparency and that minor behaviors are not consistently recorded, which can make it difficult to document repeated harassment or bullying. Bush said a student received a three-day suspension for bringing the object, and that a later threat involving the same student resulted in another three-day suspension; he said the two incidents should have been considered together when determining discipline.

"I don't believe those should be separate incidents," Bush said, arguing that repeated or related behavior should be linked in disciplinary records.

Another speaker, Amanda Gibson, described teachers and bus drivers who later told her they had not been notified about the incident and asked why a mass notification to families had not been sent. Administrators and board members said notifications are a judgment call handled at the building level, and that mass notification is used when an incident would create alarm or pose a safety risk. Superintendent-level staff and building principals said they typically inform central office when an incident occurs.

Board members and administrators explained that the district uses a reporting tool (Public School Works) to document incidents referred to school administration, but acknowledged that not every in-the-moment conversation or minor playground interaction is entered into the system. Principals said they review the pattern of incidents between the same parties to determine whether conduct meets the Ohio Department of Education definition of bullying, which typically requires multiple incidents or a pattern over time.

Several parents raised concerns that staff had sought a firearms specialist opinion to determine whether the object was a replica, and argued that if multiple experienced adults could not easily identify the item, the policy governing replica firearms and school notification should be clarified.

Board President said the district will review board policy and student-handbook language and directed parents to submit written concerns by email; staff said student-discipline details remain confidential under privacy law and cannot be disclosed publicly. The board said updates will be provided when available but warned that immediate answers may not be possible while personnel and disciplinary reviews are underway.

Ending: The board asked parents to submit bullet-pointed concerns by email and said administrators will review policy language and the implementation of discipline in this case. The board reiterated limits on public disclosure of student discipline because of privacy laws.