'Our kids are not safe anymore'
<span>CHESTER -- Several parents took the opportunity to speak to the Chester CUSD No. 139 Board of Education on Thursday during the public comment section of the board's regular December meeting.</span>
<span>The parents - Eric and April Wright, Amanda Cross and a fourth parent who didn't want her last name to be used to protect her child - raised concerns about the unnamed 16-year-old Chester High School student still attending school with the victims.</span>
<span>"The issue that I have is one of my sons is one who was targeted," said Eric Wright. "Our concern is that (the juvenile) is still going to school with our kids."</span>
<span>The unnamed male juvenile has a pending appearance in juvenile court regarding inappropriate and explicit social media conduct with other male juveniles.</span>
<span><span id="docs-internal-guid-7240ee2d-6531-016a-e4f1-7170274b4502"><span>Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker has previously declined to say what the specific charges are in this case.</span></span></span>
<span>"Our kids are not safe anymore," said April Wright. "One teacher cannot watch this kid all the time."</span>
<span>Angela, who did want not her last name used, said her sixth grade son was a target of the juvenile - confirming an eighth victim in the case. She said the juvenile tried to refriend her son on Facebook last weekend.</span>
<span>"We decided not to go to the police (initially) because we deleted everything," she said.</span>
<span>A subject brought up by parents during the session involved high school and grade school students riding the same buses together.</span>
<span>"How come a 16-year-old can ride with an 8-year-old?" Angela asked.</span>
<span>Board member Adam Gibbs asked the board if the buses were still segregated. He said that when he was a student at Chester High School, the last three rows of the bus were designated for high school students only.</span>
<span>District Superintendent Chris Diddlebock said during the meeting he was not sure, but in a phone interview with the Herald Tribune on Friday, he said the district will be looking into the issue.</span>
<span>"We'll be looking at it and we'll sit down and see what the guidelines are and what we can come up with that will work," Diddlebock said. "I appreciate the fact that someone let us know there's an issue. Hopefully, we can find a way to make it better."</span>
<span>At the conclusion of public comment, Board President Micah Reiman read a statement that, in part, reminded parents to "communicate to your children the dangers of social media."</span>
<span>"Please continue to closely monitor your child's actions on the internet," Reiman said. "And regardless how decisions are made by the schools in each situation, there is one constant - we will do whatever we can by law to keep our students safe and educated."</span>
<span>And it is the "by law" part that has put the district in a difficult situation. In previous comments to the Herald Tribune, Diddlebock has said the district must draw a "nexus" between the juvenile's inappropriate Facebook messages and activity on the school's computers.</span>
<span>"Then it would be a school issue," Diddlebock said.</span>
<span>Wright brought up students using their own devices on their own internet at school.</span>
<span>Rich Clasen, the district's technology coordinator, said staff cannot filter content on personal devices when students have their own data plan.</span>
<span>"We try hard to keep this a safe environment," he said. " But there is no perfect solution. We want to have an open environment, but safety is an issue."</span>
<span>Diddlebock said the Chester Police Department has not found a nexus between the school and the juvenile. </span>
<span>In messages the Herald Tribune has seen, they occurred after regular school hours or on days when school was not in session.</span>
<span>"Almost everybody is blocked from Facebook as long as they are on our network," Clasen said. "If they are on their own data plan, they can do what they please."</span>
<span>In a letter to the Herald Tribune sent through a Facebook message late Thursday night, Clasen said he would be willing to conduct a "tech night" in the near future on how to set up and check security on home devices.</span>
<span>"Parents are welcome to talk to me about internet/technology safety," Clasen said in the letter. "I went to SWIC for Network Administration and Design. I have (had) 16 credit hours for technology security.</span>
<span>"I can help with content filtering, GPS tracking and firewalls for home use."</span>