WALDOBORO — Two weeks before the holiday break, an incident at the Medomak Middle School appalled and frightened students and parents, resulting in many conversations amongst administrators and parents, as well within families. At issue was an alleged “kill list” that included the names of six students.

“At this time, we have no reason to believe there are any credible threats to the safety of our students and staff,” said RSU 40 Superintendent Steve Nolan, on Dec. 22. “We are always working to ensure the safety of our students and staff.  We take all reports of concerning behavior seriously and investigate thoroughly following our comprehensive emergency management plan, policies and procedures. However, I cannot share confidential student or staff information due to state and federal privacy laws.”

While some of the parents, superintendent and the principal have talked since the incident first surfaced in early December, they continue to be worried. They want to know what the district’s plan is to keep students safe.

“We watch this on the news, and we think God, how horrific,” said Cristy Winchenbach, a parent of a middle school student. “The administrators have been great. They get the brunt of our frustration, because it they whom we see. I am not upset with them. We need to change the rules. We need the victims to know if these offenders are coming back to school.”

Winchenbach is sympathetic to the tightrope that administrators must walk to protect the privacy of all students. She works in healthcare and is professionally bound by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) but she wants to see more protection for victims — those students who were threatened.

Parents have not seen the wording of the alleged list, but descriptions of it have alarmed the entire school community.

“Every student is talking about this,” said Winchenbach. “The kids know about it.”

Then, on Dec. 21, an online notification was sent out to parents of Medomak Middle School via the ParentSquare app with a general acknowledgement of the situation. That app is commonly used to communicate with the families about school schedules and alerts.

The note assured parents that students had been told by the principal that they were safe at school. It also urged students to find an adult and share anything that might make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

Parents, meanwhile, were proactive in communicating amongst themselves. They organized a private online chat thread, and shared what they knew. Some are in education themselves, and are aware of the severe rise in mental health crises, as the number of students with psychiatric and behavioral needs has increased dramatically over the past five to 10 years. And over the past several years, understaffed and under-resourced schools are struggling to keep everyone safe.

Parents are also educating themselves, learning about the distinctions between direct and indirect threats, and substantive and transient threats, all which determine how a school responds to incidents.

Through conversations with administrators and others, Winchenbach is now aware of the state’s School Safety Center, which Maine public schools consult for assessing threats.

But she wants specifically to know how RSU 40 will handle this particular scare when school reconvenes Jan. 3.  If the student who composed the alleged list is at school on Monday, then she will seek legal counsel.

“If a child is going to make a kill list their rights should be second to the children they are threatening,” she said. “I’m not bashing the school but I’m bashing the laws the school has to follow.”

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657