UPDATE WITH SCHOOL STATEMENT: Latest on kindergartner’s ‘terrorist threats’ – what dad has to say

Sept. 26 update: Great Valley Academy CEO Leah Silvestre Franklin issued the following statement:

“Great Valley Academies create a safe, loved, and learning environment. As a component of that, we take student and staff safety very seriously.

“When issues arise, it is always our goal is to work cooperatively with families in a positive and supportive manner.

“Regarding the issue recently in the media, we were going through the review process and had a meeting scheduled with the parents prior to the media publishing this story last week.

“Great Valley Academy is happy we were able to work with the parents in resolving the recent issue, because we all want what is best for children. Students are the heart and soul of GVA, they are the reason we exist!”

Original story follows: The Modesto school that suspended a kindergartner for a day for saying he had a bomb in his backpack has agreed to remove the disciplinary action from the child’s record, his father said.

“We met with the school,” Ian Riley said of the talk he and his wife, Michelle, had with administrators of the Great Valley Academy public charter school on Tully Road. “... It was a very positive meeting. At the end, we all agreed that at 5 (son Jackson’s age), we just need to focus on his education, and that it was a great opportunity for us as parents, and them as school administrators, to hit the reset button, get to know each other again, and work together.”

The incident happened Aug. 31, when Jackson was instructed by his teacher to remove his backpack and replied that he couldn’t or a bomb inside it would explode. The Rileys were asked to take Jackson home from school and were told he was being suspended for a day.

What he said to his teacher – just a boy pretending to be a hero by protecting his classmates, the Rileys said – violated a student conduct code against making terrorist threats. The family thought the suspension would be the end of it, Ian Riley said, but then they learned the discipline would become part of his record.

Meetings with school administration resulted with the agreement that the suspension won’t be on Jackson’s record, his father said. “My wife mentioned that on a state level, it would be awesome if legislation was put in place regarding suspensions and kindergartners, mostly focused on not suspending kindergartners, due to overwhelming research that shows suspensions do nothing to benefit the child at that age,” Ian Riley said.

Great Valley’s CEO, Leah Silvestre Franklin, said she could not speak to the specifics of the case, but issued a brief statement: “Great Valley Academy takes student safety and discipline very seriously. However, we may not disclose confidential student information or discuss the specifics of any GVA student. Student information is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 10:47 AM with the headline "UPDATE WITH SCHOOL STATEMENT: Latest on kindergartner’s ‘terrorist threats’ – what dad has to say."