ROARING SPRING — Community residents voiced their concerns at Monday’s Spring Cove School Board meeting surrounding how the administration, specifically elementary Principal Cheyenne Calderon, handles bullying.

The public reactions follow claims of a student bringing a knife into the elementary school, which were posted on the Issues in the Spring Cove Area School District Facebook group.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Roaring Spring resident Nancy Sherman said a student was planning to use the knife against one of their peers in the school cafeteria.

“The boy was bullied when he was in kindergarten by the same child that threatened to stab him,” she said. “He was going to shoot him.”

She then advocated for parents to know what’s happening inside of their school districts, using the 2023 incident in which a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher in Virginia as an example.

She asked the board why a weapon was “not found” on the child before entering the school.

“And his mother sure (doesn’t) want to get a phone call finally from the school district saying ‘we’re shipping your son down to the hospital because he’s been stabbed,'” she said.

There is a “major problem” with social media, Sherman said, adding that bullying needs to be solved at Spring Cove.

District reading specialist Sherri Reed spoke in support of Calderon.

When Calderon became the principal in May 2023, Reed said Calderon encouraged students to develop relationships and skills, so “when a conflict arose, they could handle it productively and respectfully.”

Reed said Calderon also “cares about her students” and she started a Hero of the Week program to showcase positive behavior within the student body.

“It is obvious to me, every single day, that Mrs. Calderon is passionate about the education, well-being and development of every student under her care,” she said.

Ida Schy echoed Reed’s sentiments, stating that her grandson’s bullying conflict was solved after Calderon stepped in.

She had a conversation with the parents of the three boys who bullied Schy’s grandson, and Schy said they were “hopeful it would stop, and it did.”

“Now those three boys are friends with my grandson,” Schy said.

After public comment, board member Amy Acker-Knisely said the escalated situation is related to the district’s social media communities.

Acker-Knisely said she’s fine with the Issues in the Spring Cove Area School District Facebook group, but the board needs to “address issues, we need to refute them and call out lies.”

“People are weaponizing social media, and people are being unfairly attacked,” she said. “You can sit here and look at it, what it’s doing to our community.”

She plans on bringing up the community’s social media presence at the reorganization meeting in December.

No tax increase

In other business, the board voted not to raise district taxes above the Act 1 Index for the 2026-27 school year.

The current index for the district remains at 4.8%, according to Superintendent Betsy Baker.

With news of the state budget being passed, business manager Steven Foor said “it’s a relief” for the district.

The state, however, owes Spring Cove $3.8 million, he said, which can be dispersed to the district in up to six weeks.

Members Linda Smith, Chuck Gojmerac and John Biddle bid their farewells at Monday night’s meeting, concluding their four-year terms.

Board newcomers Erika Smith and Alyssa McGregor were the top vote-getters in November’s election and former member Samantha Snowberger earned a spot back on the board.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.