One month after fielding questions from a district grandparent over an alleged incident involving death threats and a weapon brought on to school property, Lehighton Area School District leaders said work is continuing on safety protocols and training.

David Parsons questioned district officials Dec. 20 on “why a student who threatened bodily harm and even death, and later brought a weapon in to school, was allowed back in the classroom after a day or two of discipline.”

Monday night, Parsons faced the school board again, asking what had taken place over the last month to help keep children safe.

“There are many things we have been and continue to do pertaining to safety,” Assistant to the Superintendent Mary Figura said. “We sent a small group up to Kingston for state-mandated training on threat assessment and they will come back and provide that training to the rest of our staff. Just last week we participated in an emergency preparedness meeting through the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit where we worked alongside of our first responders.”

Figura said the district is also updating its all hazards school operation plan, which covers everything from tornadoes to chemical spills or active intruders. A number of school safety items, she added, are included in the district’s most recent Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant application.

“I have also met with our social workers and we are working on suicide prevention and curriculum we can bring in to help teachers and counseling staff with those preventive pieces,” Dr. Christina Fish, Lehighton superintendent said.

Parsons said Monday he was disappointed with what he interpreted as a “lack of enthusiasm to protect students” by the school board following his comments last month.

“Everything seems to be going in slow motion,” he said.

Fish said the district can’t address individual disciplinary situations, but Middle School Principal Steve Ebbert, during his administrative report Monday, acknowledged an incident in the building in December.

“We are trying to be proactive,” Ebbert said. ”In coordination our school police officer, we will be having District Attorney Michael Greek come to the school on Feb. 3 and give a presentation on cyber bullying and proper use of the Safe2Say reporting program for all of our seventh and eighth graders.”

Questioned by Parsons on Monday, Board President Joy Beers said directors had been made aware of the incident specifics, although it is not standard practice for them to get involved.

“Typically the administration handles individual cases,” Beers said. “We did learn some things about Dr. Fish’s decision making process and investigation. During those conversations, we did not advise her to do anything differently. She is trained in child care and if she tells us that a student does not pose a danger then we believe her.”