NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A series of statements following the lawsuit against Newport News Public Schools is sparking a question among educators: What is the expectation of teachers if a threat enters their classroom?
Abby Zwerner sued the school board and Richneck Elementary School administrators for $40 million Monday, including then-principal Briana Foster-Newton.
In response to several claims that administrators ignored serious warnings, Foster-Newton fired back in a statement, saying in part:
"We are exploring the possibility of a countersuit as it has been brought to our attention that prior to the shooting, another student in Ms. Zwerner’s class warned her in class that the six-year-old shooter had a gun and Ms. Zwerner allegedly told the student to sit down and be quiet.
If this is true, Ms. Zwerner may have been able to avoid the injury she suffered and this will certainly impact her claimed damages. This information was never reported to Mrs. Newton. Our investigation of this new information is ongoing."
President of the Virginia Education Association (VEA) Dr. James Fedderman said his first thought when he heard about the shooting was about the warning signs that could have prevented this incident from happening.
In response to the statements made between Zwerner's and Foster-Newton's attorneys, he said, "I can't speak to what Abby did do or not do, but the thing that I have to hold true to right now, we cannot spend another moment on the blame game."
He went on to say, "We have to make sure we have systems in place so that this sort of situation is never replicated again in Virginia or across this country."
It's a situation Fedderman said teachers should never face. He said they signed up to educate children, even in face of some challenges, but he said the job description doesn't entail becoming victims of gun violence.
"I believe a cry was being made," Fedderman said, referencing the claims that the 6-year-old boy had a history of violent behavior. "But, I also believe there was no answer to the cry. The reality is that schools are tough for everyone right now, but we can move forward."
Fedderman said he and his board members are constantly pushing for new laws to support more mental health professionals and School Resource Officers in schools.
He said educators should focus less on the expectation for teachers to better handle threats inside the school and more on what can get done on the state level to prevent violence from entering schools in the first place.
"What we got to do as a Commonwealth...we have to lift the support cap, so our school divisions can hire the resources in terms of people to address these needs," said Feddderman. "We've had these issues for a long time. It's just that these issues were never this close to home."
Attorneys representing Foster-Newton said they plan to file a counter-suit in response to Zwerner's lawsuit. The former principal stated since the shooting that she was not made aware of employees' concerns the day of the shooting that they believed the boy had a gun on him.
According to the school division's spokeswoman, Foster-Newton is still employed with Newport News Public Schools.