'Situation' at Union Beach School Could Have Been Handled Better, Parents Say

Union Beach, NJ - A former male teacher at a Union Beach elementary school sent a possibly threatening text message to two current female teachers at the school Tuesday, parents at the school tell Patch.

What the text message exactly said was not disclosed by the district, but no students were ever in danger, said Dr. Scott Ridley, superintendent of the Union Beach school district, in a letter sent home to parents about the text.

The man who sent the text was located in Ocean County. He has not been charged with any crime, said a spokesman for the Monmouth County prosecutor’s office. He volunteered to admit himself into a long-term inpatient facility, a mother at the school who attended an assembly on the matter told Patch.

Letter from district causes panic, parents say

Dr. Ridley sent a letter to parents Wednesday notifying them that “a text message was sent to some staff members” and that no students were in danger. The letter also mentioned the police and Monmouth County prosecutor’s office were involved. (You can read the letter in the second image.)

But his letter only created more alarm, some parents say.

“The way the administration handled the communication was atrocious,” said mom Tammy Trincilla. “Needlessly, they created a panic.”

“We were left with more questions than answers,” agreed Vanessa Beard, a mother of three children at Memorial, who called the letter “very vague.”

“After that letter was sent out, I cannot tell you now many parents called each other, asking ‘What’s going on?’ Nobody knew anything because the district was not saying anything,” Beard told Patch. “They pretty much said a serious message was sent and police are involved, as well as the prosecutor’s office .... Of course after I got that, I was really worried.”

Beard said it would have been better if Dr. Ridley specified that the text only involved a personal matter between teachers, and that it did not mention students at all. She also said she wished the school had contacted parents via the parent portal or with a phone call, instead of sending the letter home in kids’ backpacks.

“My 10-year-old son read the letter and I had my kid tell me there was a threat going around his school,” she said. “I had to assure him everything was fine.”

Other parents said they had to rely on parents for information instead of the school district.

Memorial School holds meetings Thursday, Friday nights

The district alerted parents Thursday morning they would hold an assembly Thursday at 5 p.m. to explain the matter, and another assembly will be Friday night. However, Beard said that wasn’t enough time for working parents to plan ahead to attend the meeting.

Trincilla attended that meeting, where she said school officials seemed unable to answer many questions parents asked.

“During the meeting that was meant to calm worried parents, the staff was unable to answer many of the questions posed and appeared to be ill-prepared to deal with the possible fall-out of this,” she said. “Had someone had the presence of mind to merely answer inquiries at the school instead of creating a Honeywell alert for it, we may not be dealing with the anger now some parents have.”

Other parents approve of how the matter was handled

However, other Memorial parents said the district handled the matter well.

“No one knows what the text said and no students were mentioned,” said Crystal Diehl Kerwin, a mother of two at the school. “The district handled it to the best of their abilities, as it is an ongoing investigation and any released details can harm the case.”

Beard said she knows Union Beach is a small community that rarely deals with issues like this, and she hopes the district can learn from the incident.

“I’m not sure why they didn’t just tell us what exactly was going on,” she said. “The letter intended to inform and ease parents did the exact opposite. I guess all they can do now is accept the constructive criticism and learn from this. They clearly dropped the ball.”

Patch called Dr. Ridley’s office to ask him to respond to the parents’ complaints. His office referred all questions to the county prosecutor.