Student’s Alleged Suicide Threat Not Reported to Parents

DIBOLL — Diboll ISD administrators on Thursday apologized for failing to notify a parent after her son was mistakenly thought to be suicidal. As a result of a Facebook post, a high school student in Diboll was called to the counselor’s office because school officials feared he may have been a danger to himself or others. School officials told the student that they had received a phone call from someone who had seen the online post and thought it was a cause for concern. Upon talking with the student, Diboll High School principal Daniel Lopez said, it was apparent there was no threat and that the post had been misinterpreted by the person who called.

“Once we are informed of a potential danger to a student, we are required to follow up on it by law,” Lopez said. “The student involved is a great kid and a really smart young man, and after talking to him we quickly identified that he was no danger to himself or anyone else. In hindsight, it was at that time that we should have notified a parent.”

Lopez said the student was asked if he would like to call his mother, but that he declined. School officials said the failure to notify the boy’s mother was a mistake.