EAST TROY, Wis. — Worry and concern among East Troy parents after a “list” was seen circulating in the middle school. It sparked parents to reach out to TMJ4 News for more transparency from the school district.
“I heard through the grapevine last night that some students had made a claim of a hit list,” said John Lysaght, an East Troy grandparent.
The district would not do an on-camera interview but did release two statements saying the rumored “hit list” was actually a "ship list," or a relationship list, created by students that detailed which students they thought should be dating each other.
However, a middle school parent who did not want to give her name says she wasn’t even aware of the threat the district was investigating.
“You had no idea?” asked reporter Rebecca Klopf.
“No,” she answered.
“Would you have sent the kids to school?” asked Rebecca.
“No, I would not have,” answered the mother.
She said the second letter from the district came too late. Sent at 9:22 a.m., it arrived after the middle school day started at 7:45 a.m.
“You would have kept them home?” Rebecca asked.
“Yeah, I would have,” the woman replied.
“I emailed the district and the superintendent and went to the office. I asked to speak to the superintendent, but instead, they handed me the two statements.”
Watch: 'Hit list' at East Troy Middle School is actually a 'ship list'; what that means
Another parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said she felt the district had done enough. She was reassured after hearing that the threat had been investigated by both the district and police and was not found credible.
John is relieved the list turned out to be innocent.
“We all should be worried about our kids' safety in school. It doesn’t take one of these tragedies to remind us that we need to address this problem and fix it,” John said.
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