Police have arrested a substitute teacher who they said threatened to "shoot up" a classroom at Putnam Middle School on Wednesday.
Police identified the teacher Thursday morning as 46-year-old Putnam resident Andrea Husson.
Board of Education Chairman Michael Morrill said school administrators dealt with the incident "very swiftly" and removed the substitute teacher from school.
Supt. William Hull declined to elaborate on the situation, citing a personnel issue, but said it happened Wednesday in a seventh-grade class.
"A district substitute used inappropriate and threatening language in reprimanding a class. This situation was handled immediately and the appropriate authorities, including the police, were notified. At no time, were any students or staff members in harm’s way," Hull said in an email. "If there is a positive to this unfortunate incident, it is that the systems that we have in place were used by students and worked as designed."
A Putnam mom who asked only to be identified by her first name, Jackie, said the school principal left a message on her phone line at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday describing what had happened.
"Just saying it was a seventh-grade substitute teacher that had threatened a seventh-grade class stating because the kids, they were misbehaving in the class," Jackie said. "And that's the term that she said – she was going to shoot up the classroom."
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Morrill said school leadership reached out earlier in the day to parents whose children were directly affected. He added that most people at school weren't even aware of the incident at the time and said the day continued as scheduled.
Husson was charged with second-degree breach of peace. She was released on a $1,500 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in Danielson Superior Court on April 22.
"I'm just kind of disappointed because Putnam is a good school and good community. It's just sad to see that this had to happen in our community," Jackie said. "My daughter is the one really scared and she's only 8 years old. She doesn't feel safe after she heard about it."
Morrill said the school superintendent plans to investigate the incident. He said the board is pleased with the way the superintendent and school administration addressed it and that the school system is "critically concerned with student safety."
Some families, however, wish the school had reached out to parents sooner.
"I think they should have locked down the school and notified the parents immediately," said Marsha, whose grandson attends Putnam Middle School. "Thank God it was only a verbal threat, but who knows what she could have had in her purse."
Jackie's son, Josh, attends eighth grade at Putnam Middle School. He called the situation "upsetting" and said he probably knows some of the students in the classroom where it happened.
"I don't think I will send my kids to school tomorrow," Jackie said.
