When the fat lady sings...and another type of mothers' club

"It is not over 'til the fat lady sings". If you think this year will have some fat lady on stage, singing about the end of schools having to deal with these issues, wake up! And do not laugh at the messengers, as did the fat man at the NJEA meeting on April 24, 1999. WTAE is a Pittsburgh area station. The event in the link happened in South Carolina. The lady got her 15 minutes of fame and some charges filed against her.

https://www.wtae.com/article/south-carolina-school-bus-6-year-old-loaded-gun/73493490?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%20-%20Morning%20Headlines&utm_source=6a883dc464eb9b64db64a50b19a11e2a&brzu=f41997e2aca7ba81ff08a8cdfa03daefa7d6d8fa616a822f4b3c135f7d9ec13d&lctg=67a78d549b5a3f007d24ec7e 

The husband said it looked like an air gun.https://youtu.be/zP5WYuPp5z0?is=85jGHG6CBtvvXUpI

A student reported it to an adult. How is this different from the Newport News school?

https://youtu.be/GkkvVgzcQqg?is=tnIapR1JelzgqfAx

The gun was loaded. A YouTuber talks about it. The words of my mother are coming out of his mouth, and she was talking about a toy gun.

https://youtu.be/E62afEF8Cag?is=c_58NOrELmFomnTj

This mother and the mother of JT, "the my mother did not secure her gun club" are new members.

Other incidences that went to far:

This student's mother explains why the disarming student's reasoning is common, but flawed. He may be bright, but not smart.

https://youtube.com/shorts/EJRdLi_VqRU?is=Ois0SRPIYqXKySbX

Sometimes the wheels on the bus are not the only things that go round and round.

https://youtube.com/shorts/WbiW3LylvzQ?is=UuPiG_nrjofv2aG7

Marian R. Carlino

August 21, 2026

What about JT? A 6 year old who shot his teacher

 Who is JT and What about him?

Just like CN in my former classroom, JT is a young child for whom a school district had concerns about his behaviors since he was in kindergarten. Unlike, CN in my former class, in 1998, JT pulled off trying to kill his teacher on January 6, 2023. He succeeded in leaving a bullet permanently lodged close to the heart of his first grade teacher after pulling the trigger in front of his classmates (in a classroom with no solid walls. The school had safe rooms in times of emergencies.)

My classroom could have been the scene of a similar event but it was not. My story is in detail in my book. The circumstances are still timely since two trials were recently held regarding the actions of JT. JT’s teachers faced very serious circumstances in reporting and dealing with their violent student. I could connect dots. The law could also in JT’s life. The teacher won a civil case, asking for a $40 million dollar award in the fall of 2025 and was awarded a civil judgement of $10 million per a jury decision. The State of Virginia jailed the mother and she lost custody. The State of Virginia thought a criminal case was warranted. A grand jury was convened and a trial was scheduled. The Grand Jury Report from 2024 outlines a lot of information.

The Grand Jury report did not indict the 6 year old. He was too young. Based on their findings, the Grand Jury did indict the VP, EP, and found fault with many security measures at the school.

On May 18, 2026, a jury was selected and on May 19,  2026,, the jury trial began. Suddenly, on May 20, 2026,  the trial was dismissed unilaterally by the judge. Evidently the 8 counts regarding the children did not meet the judges definition of criminal. 

SO, what about JT? Although I have no empathy for his actions, we know what angry children can do, wasn’t he a danger to himself?

BUT, didn’t the VP have a responsibility to protect JT from harming himself? He was not listed as one of the 8 counts.  His mother or custodial guardian was not called to testify by the prosecutors. The defense attorneys did not give an iota to the children’s rights. Other than the teacher, the most serious non physical trauma is actually being suffered by JT. Was the VP really protecting JT by ignoring nor acting proactively to the staff concerns? Why wasn’t he listed as a child in the indictment against the VP? 

The Grand Jury Report May explain about JT and the VP’s concern for safety. The teacher almost paid with her life. JT will never have a normal life. And as for the other children, well, the Judge did not care about their rights either. The prosecutor said in opening statements, the trial was about the children. Was it?  

What about JT? What about Justice for all? 

Read the Grand Jury Report in the link. Watch the short, dismissed trial on one of the many YouTube channels, like Court TV. And pray that your children’s school districts are prepared for prevention. The stakes are life changing when they are not.

https://www.wavy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/Full-Report-2024-opt-1.pdf

Marian R. Carlino

May 25, 2026

 

Hearsay and the hypocrisy of the VP weeping

It has been a few days since the criminal charges were dismissed against the VP by a judge, not by the jury. The judge took the decision into her hands. 

The VP was found culpable in a civil trial for the shooting injury to the teacher in a first grade class in the elementary school in Virginia. Civil cases on behalf of the children are still active and pending against the VP. This potential for monetary gain was used against the parents when they took the stand this past week to testify in the criminal trial. 

No one at the school, other than the VP was indicted by a grand jury on criminal charges related to the children. I find that piece of information telling. Evidently, the judge did not.

I am a proponent of due process especially since I know first hand how due process can be denied. 

In this case, whose legal rights were given priority in this trial, the children or the principal? When you listen to the lawyers, the judge and this one example of legal commentary, you may form your own opinion. The following is my opinion.

I do not believe the children, of whom this trial was about, per the prosecutor and defense, received due process. Here are a few reasons why I formed this opinion. They are not listed in any scale of most importance. The reasons on my opinion are all important.

Reason 1: Was it the type of charge? A grand jury thought it was chargeable offense and a trial jury was selected and sworn in. This was not a bench trial. The 14 members of the jury were not in the courtroom when the judge made a unilateral decision. 

COULD the jury. if questioned about the validity of grand jury findings before the trial, opted out based on a question about the charges?

CAN that type of question even be asked at jury selection?  Do you think this is a valid charge? Should we proceed?  

Reason 2: The defense threw red herrings into the case to distract. I know that is a common trick of the trade, but is it due process for minors? Example: Was a student in the classroom? Was there monetary gain in a pending civil case? This questioned the motivation of the parents whose kids watched or heard gunfire in their school. The defense lawyers underplayed school policy. The defense questionned every video or policy presentation to underplay and discount their validity.

Reason 3: Underplayed seriousness of impact on the children because no child got shot or killed.

Reason 4: As difficult as it may have been, the children were not allowed to testify on their own on what they heard or witnessed, not even in a controlled setting.

Reason 5: The defense lawyer kept interrupting and used the lawyer technique of asking the same question several times. Both the judge and the prosecutor said "asked and answered" for many questions.

Reason 6: HEARSAY. The adults, staff and parents were not allowed to relay the utterances of the children. So who could speak on the children's behalf?

Reason 7: Lawyers are lawyers. They talk out of both sides of their mouths. The judge and defense lawyers, but even the prosecutor, were not willing to allow the whole senario to be flushed out.

Reason 8: The prosecutor did not ask about the relationship of the principal with staff or the shooter's parents. Was there a prejudice of any sort for the student or the shooter's parents that made the VP reluctant and fail to take more action? The parents, except for that week, evidently were sitting in the classroom daily under a plan to mitigate the violent outbursts. Did the principal know the mother carried drugs and a gun in her purse? Did the vice principal find out so the parents could not sit in class anymore?  Was child protective services involved before the shooting that teachers did not know? How did a young child become so violent?

Reason 9: No one legally requested the school records of the shooter. JT was protected more than the other children.

Reason 10: What was the racial make up of the school? Was there a DEI program in place? What training in school violence prevention program was used?

Reason 11: The video tape of the VP, done on Zoom in 2023 by the school HR representstive was shown in which the VP used the pronoun We when talking about what was done. She was covering for her inaction then. The defense tried to undermine the authority of the HR representative. The VP is no longer employed at that school district. Did she fight for unemployment which is a court of law? How soon did she lawyer up? Why wasn't a policy expert at the school called by the prosecutor to explain the chain of command?

Reason 12 : Personal experience

I worked in a white picket fence school district. The violent child was a 7 year old, red haired white kid whose mother was a cop. The family participated in Civil War Reenactments. Someone gets shot, and you eat lunch with that "dead" person. He had access to guns.

The mother told us in a meeting that the father called me and the other teachers "bitches out to get him." The white principal had it out for me and showed a prejudice towards me, also white. (I was raised in the "hood" though in Plainfield, NJ). The Child Study Team gave nothing for the rights of my other students or for me. (My book does explain that!)

The day after the events that led me to speaking up and already in writing for my class, this note on a response to another report by a child is what I received from my principal. You may now understand why I question every school violence episode with or without a gun. 

The hearsay rebuttals by the defense attorneys was like hearing chalk scraping on a chalkboard.

I wanted to scream.

What would you do if you received this after reporting serious concerns for safety at your workplace?

P.S. Initials of minors is clearly allowed. 

Marian R. Carlino

May 23, 2026

This link is from a lawyer who has a YouTube channel. He follows and comments on trials. I only follow for the school violence related coverage. He is one of a few I pay attention to.

 

Legal justice is important. In my opinion, this lawyer podcaster does fair coverage. I always read the comment section as well. The comments are an important part of most podcasts. 

I do not allow comments on this blog. I do not want my message confused with other commentary. My blog is not monetized. Comments can always be related on Amazon or any site when searching for my book if interested.

https://www.youtube.com/live/jt9U3a9xNUY?si=N3Tcg1kIKR47nLkn 

Love. 

Marian