District 204 Criticized Over Joliet West Gun Secrecy

JOLIET, IL - District 204's decision to keep under wraps a recent gun incident involving a Joliet West High School student caused a firestorm of reaction on Thursday and many Patch readers blasted Joliet Township High School District 204 Superintendent Cheryl McCarthy for the secrecy. On Wednesday night, WJOL radio first reported that a Joliet West student had posted a Snapchat of himself with a gun. Although the school district administration investigated the matter and worked with the Joliet Police Department, McCarthy had hoped to keep the issue under wraps so that parents, alumni and the community at large did not know about the incident.

On the Joliet Patch Facebook page alone, Thursday's story about McCarthy had 655 Shares from readers.

Here's a sampling of comments from Joliet Patch readers reacting to the story:

1. "These damn schools blow up your phone everyday with bullcrap about the weeds they are spraying, what clubs are cancelled etc. but not when there's a gun on property!"
2. "That is part of the problem. Schools do not want it known that there may or may not be an issue. Parents have a right to know."
3. "B.B. gun or not parents have the right to know what’s going on. I found this out from my nephew who is a student. His parents had no clue- not cool."
4. "If this happened at joliet central it would be all over the news."
5. "People are so quick to blame the schools, the superintendent, principals, teachers, etc. They are under tremendous pressure, especially in recent years when our entire country is experiencing so many difficulties. Why not reserve judgment, wait for the facts and give the administration a chance to explain."
6. "Where is the School Board! Why aren’t they talking to parents! Where was the principals? Maybe it’s time to vote them out! Make some new rules & Enforce them! This is unacceptable!"
7. "This is ridiculous!!!! Parents should've been contacted about the investigation!!!! What if it happened and people got killed!?! No one would've known until it was too late. I'm so glad I don't go here anymore."
8. "A few years ago, a gun miss fired in a students back pack, in a classroom, while other students present and there was not a lock down or were parents notified. This administration has tried to cover up to protect their pockets not protect the youth.
9. "So the student said it was a BB gun. Nowhere in this article does it say that police located the weapon and confirmed it was in fact a BB gun.
10. "I urge all parents to attend the board meeting and demand to know why the school board and school did not report this sooner to police and why parents where not notified this is not the first time this has happened where parents were not notified of inside ts at West where a weapon was involved."
11. "As a parent at Joliet West this doesn't bother me. It was a BB gun. Perhaps the reason it wasn't reported was because it was a non story. Just my 2 cents."
12. "First sign of the school addressing this comes at 930 p.m. 2 full weeks after the event took place. Good Job 204. Read the message below if you can stomach it."

ORIGINAL STORY: Gun At Joliet West Prompts Investigation

Late Thursday night, the District 204 communications staff issued a belated message to parents of Joliet West students. At the time of the email, Kristine Schlismann, McCarthy's director of community and alumni relations, also notified WJOL radio, The Joliet Herald-News newspaper and the Joliet Patch that she was disseminating a letter to parents.

The beginning of the District 204 message read that, "Second-hand reports of information pertaining to a Snap Chat post of a Joliet West High School student displaying an object construed to be a weapon, off school property, has led to the dissemination of inaccurate information reported by the media.

"Due to this inaccurate information, we would like to take the opportunity to communicate facts regarding the Snap Chat."

District 204's notification to Joliet West parents aimed to justify the administration's rationale for keeping the incident under wraps by indicating that "According to the police report, the Snap Chat video took place off school grounds, after school hours, near 310 Hammes."

The District 204 message also appeared to indicate that school officials had distanced themselves from the Joliet Police Department probe, rather than being vigilant and in regular contact with police.

"To date, there have been no arrests or additional information provided to Joliet Township High School by the Joliet Police Department regarding their investigation of the Snap Chat," the District 204 message read.

Despite the backlash, McCarthy's administration remained confident that it made the right decision by keeping the gun incident under wraps rather than sharing the information with students and parents and the Joliet community at large.

"In a time where there is heightened fear and copycat acts, bringing attention to an instance that did not at any time jeopardize school or student safety is not in the best interest of our schools or community," the District 204 statement declared. "Trust that JTHS will serve as your primary communication source and that we critically evaluate every situation and will communicate when safety has been jeopardized."

Image of Superintendent Cheryl McCarthy via District 204