Superintendent and school board discuss incident at Kilby Shores Elementary School – The Suffolk News-Herald

Nearly a month after Vontrail Marquis Thorpe entered Kilby Shores Elementary School and barricaded himself in a women’s restroom with two students inside, Suffolk Public Schools Superintendent Dr. John B. Gordon III and school board members made their first public comments since the incident during Thursday’s school board meeting.

Before providing a time-stamped summary of the 11-minute event on June 14, Gordon said SPS does not discuss safety measures publicly. He has stood by that statement since the beginning of his tenure as superintendent and the board supports it.

“We have made that very clear and for some reason, in the context of this incident, I still don’t understand why we are now expected to communicate what new safety measures have been put in place, even though I’m sure the public understands and knows that the school division has worked with Suffolk Police to change and adjust some things,” Gordon said.

Gordon discussed media reports that followed the incident and addressed some questions that were raised in those reports. The first was what additional security measures are being taken, to which Gordon responded, “I guess we should be able to inform everyone what we’re going to do so that there may be another security incident, but someone is trying to process that and analyze it.”

The other asked what additional disciplinary action would be taken against the teacher, to which the teacher replied, “This is a personnel matter. So why would the school department inform on a personnel matter?”

Gordon thanked school staff and board members for not responding to media inquiries.

“Look, I want to thank all of our staff, administrators and school board, because when that same investigative reporter reached out to staff and members of our school board, there was no response,” Gordon said.

Board member Tyron Riddick said the two questions should have been easy to answer.

Board member Dr. Dawn Marie Brittingham said she was grateful to Kilby Shores staff, administration and police for their quick response and that there were no injuries, but she criticized the time it took to discuss the incident.

“I’m thankful that no one was hurt,” Brittingham said in her closing statement. “I’m thankful that the police were able to get to the scene and arrest the person who entered the building. But I’m very concerned that it took nearly a month to have a conversation. Too many unanswered questions for the families, too many unanswered questions for the school staff, too many unanswered questions for the community as a whole.”

Brittingham called Gordon’s report a “good step forward” during the meeting, but said she felt things could and should be done better.

Board member Tyron Riddick was more critical of the lack of communication and delays in the transmission of information.

Riddick asked how long it took for him to receive updates. He said he received an update on June 14 and nothing until the July 11 meeting. He then said he requested a full report on June 21 but never received one and was blindsided by a news report that showed video of the entire incident.

“I asked on … June 21st to get a full, detailed report, where a video would be delivered and made available to us, not to get the report and then be pushed around about when it was going to be presented, being told the agenda and not knowing where it was going to be presented. It’s unbelievable … I shouldn’t have to wait nine days to find out where something is in a report, or wait nearly a month to find out the inner workings of the report.”

Brandon Randleman, a member of the Safety Review Board, said the incident should not be treated as “business as usual.” He reflected on the released video of the incident.

“I have seen a man addicted to some drug manage to get onto our school grounds, hide in the back, get past dozens of students on a playground, get into a building and lock himself in the bathroom. None of this is normal and none of this should be normal,” Randleman said.

Randleman continued.

“We’re looking for answers. We’re looking for cooperation. We want to make sure our students are safe. That’s all we’re asking for, and it shouldn’t be put on the agenda when the public doesn’t even know we’re discussing it,” Randleman said. “This situation could have been a lot worse – this gentleman could have been having a great day at the playground with these kids! The teachers had to run and get the kids off the playground!”

Board member Dr. Judith Brooks-Buck criticized the media coverage of the incident, saying she was sickened by constantly seeing and hearing about it, even though the entire incident lasted 11 minutes and 47 seconds.

“The whole thing lasted 11 minutes, but it was on the media and it made me sick because I thought, first of all, I don’t need you to show people how to get into school,” she said in her closing statement. “Secondly, I don’t need you to keep talking about it. Thirdly, I need you to shut up because it took 11 minutes and 47 seconds for the whole thing to happen. The police said we did what we were supposed to do.”

Gordon also acknowledged in his report on the incident that it was a safety issue and that he hoped it would never happen again.

“I also want to remind the entire public school community that this was indeed a safety issue. Yes, this was an incident that we all want to make sure never happened again and hopefully never happens again,” Gordon said. “But there were also no injuries, and the safety team led by Dr. Brown, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Lafayette, Mr. Boone and others have already changed some of the outdoor procedures. Look, those are the recommendations that I feel comfortable sharing with the community.”

Gordon spoke of having personally spoken to the families of the children affected by the incident and described them as “the most important people in this matter”.

“Because it was these two students who were in the bathroom who had to experience this. That’s why we didn’t speak out and explained that we didn’t want to ‘retraumatize’ these students. That’s the direct feedback from one of the parents,” he said. “If this story keeps coming up when someone asks about it, it brings our young students – and these are the little ones here – back to that day. So we have to ask ourselves, what is more important here?”

Thorpe is charged with kidnapping and trespassing and is currently in the Western Tidewater Regional Jail awaiting trial.