The Montgomery County School board released a public statement Wednesday, describing some of the results from an investigation into the death of two teenage students. The investigation found issues within the school division’s handling of events leading up to the deaths.
Last November, two teenagers were found dead inside a parking garage in Blacksburg. One was 17-year-old Serenity Hawley, whose parents described the incident as a murder suicide. Her mom, Heather Waldron, told Radio IQ that her daughter had experienced dating violence by her ex-boyfriend. “I hope that Serenity’s death will initiate conversations that we can have in our community,” Waldron said. “We do not need to have such a stigma with domestic violence or mentally abusive, physically abusive relationships, that our children are going through.”
After the tragedy, Wendy Eckenrod-Green, another parent of a Blacksburg High School student, started a petition asking for a third party investigation into events connected with the deaths.
“I think the biggest things that we want to know, is if the protocols that are in place to help and protect students, if they were followed,” Eckenrod-Green said back in February. “Specifically, the threat assessment teams.”
A threat assessment process is supposed to bring school and law enforcement professionals together to review situations or warning signs that may signal a danger to student safety.
1,700 people signed the petition, and the school board hired a law firm, Gentry Locke, to conduct an investigation. They interviewed 23 people within the school division and the Blacksburg High School community. They also reviewed records from the Blacksburg Police Department, emails between faculty members and Central Office staff.
Gentry Locke presented its report to the School Board on April 23, according to the public statement.
Few details were released about the investigation’s findings, but the public statement did conclude that it found “systemic failures within the school division related to Title IX compliance and the initiation of threat assessments.” Title IX is a federal law governing how schools handle complaints of sexual discrimination and harassment.
The statement also adds that “the report’s factual findings detailed a time of significant change occurring within the school division around the time of the students’ deaths."
The statement said the Montgomery County School Board is in the process of evaluating the report and determining what additional actions may be necessary.
