CANFIELD — The Canfield Police Department has provided details of 22 incidents dating back to 2012 to back up the claim that Canfield Local Schools administration “has a history of failing to report serious threats and other significant incidents to law enforcement.”

Among the incidents was one Nov. 17, 2018, in which a “confidential source notified (a Canfield Police Department school resource officer) that a note was discovered at the middle school reading, ‘I want to kill my math teacher.’ The student was suspended from school and the (school resource officer) was never notified,” the report states.

An incident from Feb. 27, 2018, involved two students who “talked about doing a school shooting,” the report says. It was investigated by Canfield police, but a Canfield High School principal showed police a text message from Superintendent Alex Geordan “stating something to the effect of ‘it would be better if there is no police report.'”

Details of the 22 incidents were provided Thursday in response to a request Wednesday from David Wilkeson, Canfield Board of Education president, to Canfield police Chief Chuck Colucci. Wilkeson asked Colucci for documentation of the claim in a 30-page report the police department released Tuesday saying the school district has a pattern of not reporting serious incidents.

Tuesday’s report stated that Geordan “downplayed” a Sept. 12 incident involving a sixth-grader who threatened to shoot another male student 16 times in the back of the head. That report also documented an investigation the police department and Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office carried out regarding the Sept. 12 incident.

A conclusion of the report was that Geordan “misled the community” three times in an all-call message to parents about the Sept. 12 incident and that Canfield Village Middle School Assistant Principal Mike Flood gave changing versions of the incident to investigators.

The Canfield Board of Education issued a news release late Thursday that responds to the most recent Canfield police report, stating the board believes “most student misconduct can be handled internally without a need to request assistance from Canfield Police.

“It is not a matter of circumventing law enforcement or ignoring the significance of a threat made at school but rather implementing a range of consequences to include a variety of intervention methods, discipline both inside and outside of school and, perhaps, law enforcement intervention.”

The school board will “continue to work with its administration and Canfield Police Department toward improving our relationship and enhancing the district’s assessmentof student threats,” the release states.

Tuesday’s release led to an outpouring of emotions by parents and Geordan at Wednesday’s Canfield Board of Education meeting.

Some of the other incidents detailed in Thursday’s report are:

∫ Dec. 13, 2017 — Fires were located in two restrooms, but the middle school administration “refused to allow (a school resource officer) to participate in the interview of the student suspect.” The (school resource officer) later arrested the student for arson.

∫ Sept. 25, 2017 — A school resource officer was notified of a physical altercation at the high school in which one student “slammed another student’s head into a locker.” The school resource officer was never notified at the time of the incident.

∫ June 10, 2016 — A detective interviewing a witness learned the witness was a Canfield High School teacher and had been accused of having a sexual relationship with a student. The school district investigated without reporting it to police. But the detective uncovered evidence that the teacher lied to the administration. “The teacher subsequently resigned or was fired.”

∫ Feb. 9, 2015 — Early in the school day, parents of a high school student met with a high school administrator and reported that their child disclosed that she had been sexually assaulted by another student. Two high school administrators “began questioning the (suspect) regarding the allegation.” The school resource officer was notified after the school day ended.

∫ Nov. 26, 2013 — A school resource officer was made aware of a possible physical altercation between a teacher and a special-needs student. High school “administration refused to speak with the (school resource officer) regarding the matter. The teacher either resigned or was fired shortly thereafter.”

erunyan@tribtoday.com