Mother of first-grader takes safety concerns to school board after gun pointed at son

By Kristy Kepley-Steward

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — The mother of a Claxton Elementary first-grader took her safety concerns to the Asheville City Schools Board Monday night.

In November 2021, Karina Holloway says a classmate pointed a gun at her 6-year-old son.

“The parents in our community deserve a school system that is both fully transparent and truthful regarding any incidents that occur between students as well as one that truly has the best intentions of its students in every situation,” Holloway told the School Board Monday night. “No one else should have to wonder why our school system chooses to ignore the rights of victims of violent threats.”

Holloway says the school denied her request to have the student removed from her son’s classroom. According to Holloway, the student was out for a few days before returning to the same classroom as her son. “He tells me, ‘Every time I look at her, I’m afraid that she will do it again,” Holloway said.

Holloway’s request to transfer the student to another class was denied. Instead, she said school officials offered to move her son.

According to Ashley-Michelle Thublin, executive director of communications with Asheville City Schools, the BB gun was unloaded and broken and “confiscated by school administrators”.

News 13 asked Thublin what punishment if any, the student received. Her response: “That’s part of the student’s discipline file and information I’m unable to share, as all students are entitled to confidentiality per federal law.”

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