NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — More Newport News teachers are speaking up about concerns within the school division.
The president of the education association formed a tipline following the shooting at Richneck Elementary School, where a 6-year-old shot his first-grade teacher.
In the months following the shooting, more school division teachers are making their voices heard anonymously.
"Since the lawsuit has been filed, there have been a lot of tipline concerns," said Newport News Education President James Graves.
Graves created the tipline through email just a few weeks after the shooting. He told 13News Now since then, some of the biggest tips he's received are about students making verbal threats at school.
"You can't take something not seriously, because look what happened to Richneck. So, every threat in our union against our colleagues or staff is taken seriously, whether the kid thinks it's fun or not. And when I send the tipline info to administration, they take it seriously," he said.
Graves has since expanded the tipline to a number, so people can anonymously dial in their reports.
"I need teachers and staff of Newport News Public Schools to speak up and speak out -- and members of the union to know, we got your back," Graves said.
Graves said the shooting at the elementary school sparked a wave of school workers taking initiative to prevent another incident from happening again.
"I think this incident has really opened up a lot of teachers' minds and said we have to speak up. It is time for us to speak up and it is time for them to hear our voice. We want to continue to encourage our teachers and staff to have your voice heard, and report things you see in the schools and report it on our tipline, and we will take care of it," Graves said.
The email tipline is nnea.newportnews@gmail.com.