Violent or troubling incidents involving our public schools – like this past week’s social media threat toward Vero Beach High, or last month’s disruption at Sebastian River High – attract short-lived attention, but in most cases, it’s nearly impossible to find out what ultimately becomes of the arrested offender.
Locally, there is no transparency in terms of the follow-up that occurs after the initial headlines. Most offenders are minors, meaning their records are sealed unless prosecuted as adults. School disciplinary records are confidential, so the public has no way of knowing if students who made a threat or got violent were suspended, expelled, referred to on-line programs, or if they’re back on campus attending classes.
Vero Beach 32963 earlier this year set out to follow up on cases that made headlines over the past two years, and in the meantime, two new incidents occurred.
On Sept.12, the Indian River Sheriff’s Office investigated a social media post and arrested an unnamed 16-year-old who admitted to making the written threat to “kill or cause great bodily harm” at Vero high.
On Aug. 12, a 21-year-old former student, Alani Christine Palmer, was arrested after entering Sebastian River High and becoming extremely disruptive, “flipping school desks.”
Obtaining detailed information on Palmer’s charges and whereabouts was easy because she’s an adult. Palmer was charged with two second-degree misdemeanors – trespassing on school property and Disruption of an Educational Institution. She was released from jail on $1,000 bond, but then bond was revoked because she was arrested again on a felony warrant from Brevard County for felony aggravated stalking and written threats to do bodily injury.
The court has ordered a mental health evaluation for Palmer.
But in most cases, even requesting the disposition of the case without a name produces no results.
When asked what disciplinary action was taken following six separate on-campus incidents after police got involved since February 2022, Public Information Officer Cristen Maddux responded, “We do not comment on disciplinary actions of our students.”
Queries to law enforcement also netted zero results.
“Based on juvenile history because charges can be dropped, amended, or reduced, we are not allowed to give out any disposition to juvenile cases,” said Indian River County Sheriff’s Deputy Tiffany Welsh.
“We do not have or could not share any history of detentions, court dispositions, intervention programs, treatment strategies for each juvenile, or any progress reports of rehabilitation programs or diversion programs. Juvenile records are not generally open to inspection and are not considered regular public records and thus protected from public release,” responded Sheriff’s Office Captain Joe Abollo of the School Safety Division.
Abollo suggested contacting the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FDOJJ), but again, no information was available.
During the 2023-2024 school year, 11 students were expelled, and most were not permitted to return to school in person during the current 2024-2025 school year.
Expulsions are handled in School Board meetings under the “consent agenda,” meaning that they are not discussed before the board approves them.
The expulsion listings sometimes mention offenses involving a “weapon” or “threat,” but others are extremely vague. Vero Beach 32963 attempted to match the expulsions to specific incidents, but no student names, school names or offense dates are listed. Some forms listed a principal’s name as the referring person; most did not.
District procedure when “major student behavioral infractions occur,” such as a weapon or intent to harm, first involves contacting law enforcement followed by a threat assessment conducted by a team consisting of a school administrator, school counselor, school psychologist, mental wellness specialist, teachers and school resource officers (SRO’s).
Next, parents are contacted and an office discipline referral is submitted, followed by a 10-day suspension. The case is referred to the district Suspension Expulsion Review Team for a decision.
Here are a few of the cases that were able to be tweezed from the records:
In November 2022, a Vero Beach High student was arrested when a loaded firearm was found in his backpack after the student made threats to harm another student earlier that day. The 17-year-old was charged with possession of a weapon on school property, carrying a concealed firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and criminal mischief.
Consequences for the action are unknown but according to the Jan. 23, 2023, school board agenda, a student was recommended for expulsion by Vero Beach High Principal Shawn O’Keefe, for the rest of the 2022-2023 school year as well as for the 2023-2024 school year.
A week before the firearm incident, a Vero Beach High student was arrested after officials said he made threats of violence through the district’s FOCUS messenger account to multiple staff members. The student, a juvenile, was charged with 10 counts of written threats to kill or injure.
Only two other expulsions were found on board agendas during the 2022-2023 school year.
Both were listed on the June 12, 2023, agenda and were for weapons with Sebastian River High School Principal Christopher Cummings listed as requesting the expulsion. Both students were expelled through the 2023-2024 school year with the possibility of attending virtual school.
Serious incidents since 2022 include:
- On Feb. 16, 2022, a physical altercation between two girls that erupted into multiple fistfights resulted in the arrests of 16 ninth-graders at the Vero Beach High School’s Freshman Learning Center.
- On March 4, 2022, a fight broke out at Oslo Middle School ending with two students arrested that day and three others arrested the following week.
- On May 22, a bomb note was found at Storm Grove Middle School, resulting in a lockdown. An 11-year-old student was arrested the following day and charged with written threats to kill, a second-degree felony offense.
No information as to what has since become of any of those involved in any of these incidents is publicly available.