Academy Of Holy Names Staff To Discuss School Threat With Parents

TAMPA, FL -- Academy of Holy Names administrators and Tampa Police representatives will meet with school parents Thursday, March 8, at 6 p.m. at the school's Brady Center on Bayshore Boulevard to discuss any lingering concerns they might have after a contracted employee threatened to "shoot up" the school.

Ainya Smalls, 23, was Tampa Police by Tampa Police Tuesday, March 6, for making threats in front of students and staff at the Catholic school on Monday after she was fired by the company contracted to clean the school.

According to a letter sent to parents by Academy of Holy Names Principal Art Raimo, the threat was directed at Smalls’ supervisor at the cleaning service. A member of the school’s security team promptly escorted Smalls off the school campus while a school staff member notified Tampa Police.

According to Tampa Police, Smalls became angry after being terminated at the end of the school day Monday. She began to yelling at her supervisor in the school lobby, saying, "I’m coming back and I’m going to shoot this place and all you people up."

While Tampa Police didn’t feel the threat necessitated closing the school on Tuesday, police did recommend a modified lockdown and agreed to increase its police presence at the school until Smalls was taken into custody. She was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with falsely threatening to use a firearm to commit violence, a second-degree felony.

Nevertheless, a number nervous parents kept their students home from school on Tuesday.

Prior to the threat, the school relied on the companies it contracts with to conduct their own background screenings. Smalls passed the screening for Suncoast Construction and Maintenance, which has been cleaning Academy of Holy Names for 20 years.

Raimo noted, however, that those screenings only identify felony convictions. It didn't pick up the fact the fact that there was a warrant out on Smalls for violating probation in connection with a criminal mischief conviction.

As a result of Monday's threat, Raimo said the school will institute a policy of conducting its own screenings, including taking fingerprints, to determine if contracted employees have any of felony or misdemeanor convictions. He noted this is the same screening mandated by the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg to screen teachers and staff employed at diocese schools. The new screening policy will extend to current contracted employees and re-screenings will take place every six months, he said.

To further ease concerns, Raimo will have staff, police and members of the school's security contractor, Bales Security, meet with parents this evening.

Parent Scott Kimpland said he's confident the school is doing everything it can to keep their children safe.

"The leadership of the school did a great job of handling this and communicating," he said. "It's probably one of the safest places to be today, with plenty of security."

Image via Tampa Police