UPDATE | Canfield School Board has little to say as police report assails handling of threat

CANFIELD — Canfield Schools board members on Tuesday didn't directly comment on a city police report suggesting schools Superintendent Alex Geordan made deceptive statements to the public and law enforcement about a potential shooting threat Sept. 12 at Canfield Middle School — and that some school board members wanted the matter handled internally.

But district families could hear more about the matter during a board meeting at 6 p.m. tonight.

The 30-page report, released Tuesday, claims Geordan issued an automated call to district parents that misrepresented the severity of the threat, and also didn't involve the police department, despite an existing agreement for just that purpose.

That call, issued Sept. 13, the day after the threat, stated the student who made the threat was "removed" from the school property, that the school enacted its safety plan and that school resource officers were notified — but none of that was true, according to the Canfield police report. Instead, the student was sent home via the regular bus service and it was unclear if the student or the student's belongings were searched for weapons.

According to the report, Geordan later sent a text to school board members that read: "I truly hope the all-call [the automated notification system] doesn't create issues for us. We intentionally downplayed it because it deals with a student making pour [sic] choice, as adolescents do."

Read the full report on the investigation conducted by Canfield Police Department and the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office below. Those entities have redacted the victim's identifying information. Mahoning Matters has also chosen to redact names of the suspect student and relatives as well as personal information of school district personnel. Click the icon in the upper-right of the document to open a full-sized version.

Board President Dave Wilkeson called the district's response "a major f*** up" during a mid-September meeting with school and city officials at the police station.

During that meeting, Canfield Police Chief Chuck Colucci asked board Vice President Craig Olson if the community should decide whether the district's "all-call" was false.

" ... Olson replied, 'No, we don't. Actually, we want to push it to the back and handle it the way it needs to be handled,'" the report reads.

"Olson continued having a conversation about the 'perception' of the all-call, in which time President Wilkeson stated, 'You can't spin things in public like that.'

"It was evident that vice president of Canfield Schools Craig Olson wished to have this incident handled internally and wished Canfield police to assist in explaining the inconsistencies caused by the all-call," the report continues.

Additionally, middle school assistant Principal Mike Flood reportedly gave conflicting statements to Canfield police and Mahoning County Sheriff's Office investigators who followed up on the city police's inquiry — creating confusion as to when he informed Geordan that gun violence had been threatened — and kept the school's resource officer from a meeting with the family of the child who was threatened.

The district suspended Flood briefly in mid-September.

The investigation — which was also reviewed by Mahoning County prosecutors — recommended no charges for district personnel, rather that the district strengthen its communication with the city police department and the two school resource officers stationed there.

Colucci wrote it is "imperative" the district stick to its agreement to involve police officers in potential threat investigations.

"School resource officers are subject matter experts, and will work in collaboration with the school when determining the severity of such incidents," he wrote. "Failing to notify, or delaying the notification to law enforcement impedes the ability to investigate such matters, and potentially places the students, teachers, staff and community at risk."

Wilkeson on Tuesday wouldn't comment on the accuracy of the facts contained in the report or whether the district maintains confidence in Geordan's ability to respond to threats.

During a Tuesday media conference which also included Canfield Mayor Richard Duffett, Wilkeson didn't take questions, but read a statement detailing enhanced security measures in the district, including training sessions conducted immediately after the Sept. 12 incident and technology like door-stopping anchors and electronic entry systems.

"The purpose of the board of education's agreement with the city is to facilitate collaboration between our administration and the city's police force," he said. "Unfortunately, recent events have revealed that the relationship between district administrators and the police department must improve and clear lines of communication must be established."

Later Tuesday, the board convened for a long-scheduled public work session on athletics issues, then had a closed executive session to discuss personnel that lasted more than one hour.

Though officially that session was for discussion of "employment of a public school official," Wilkeson said, board members could be overheard discussing a bevy of different topics and expressing displeasure with Colucci's involvement with the school district — though the context of that involvement was unclear.

Wilkeson would not comment on what was discussed during that closed session.

This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 12:04 AM with the headline "UPDATE | Canfield School Board has little to say as police report assails handling of threat."