The Talawanda School District has experienced a string of five incidents requiring police involvement in the past two months.

Information is limited because the district is prohibited from providing information about students regarding discipline or law enforcement, said the district’s director of communications and public engagement, Holli Hansel.

Hansel said that the number of police involvements in the school district is not entirely out of the ordinary.

“My observation has been that sometimes, in some school years, the district has experienced a slight increase in discipline-related issues towards the end of the school year,” she said. “I don’t know why this happens, but sometimes it does.”

She also said students are receiving different forms of punishment from the school.

“It is the job of the principals to work with students, student behaviors and student discipline,” she said. “In a more serious matter, the SRO (school resource officer) is very likely to get involved… and so may be other law enforcement agencies.”

According to police reports, the first incident occurred March 15 when a Talawanda Middle School student reported that another student had a knife. Police took the knife and brought the student to the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center.

High school students rediscovered a social media post during spring break that had been created by another student some time ago. They alerted Talawanda High School and the investigation resulted in an arrest and charge of the student.  

Oxford officers responded to a call by Talawanda High School April 11. They observed a student advancing on the principal. They arrested the student and charged him or her with assault and resisting arrest.

On April 24, a worried parent alerted Talawanda Middle School officials that a student was making a threat against the school. A police report said the student had posted a picture of a gun on social media. The issue was resolved quickly, and the student was not arrested. Police and the school resource office are still investigating.

Oxford Police were informed of gross sexual imposition April 28 that had been occurring on a bus between two students of Talawanda Middle School. No other information has been released at this time.