Fox Chapel Parents Kept in the Dark over Alleged Threat Against Students

SPRING HILL – Nashville Police say 28-year-old Audrey Hale plotted the attack on Covenant School for several months before carrying out the mass murder on March 27th. Three 9-year-old students and three adults died at the hands of Hale, who police say may have held resentment for being forced to attend the Christian school.

When school shootings occur, law enforcement and school officials become more vigilant in preventing possible copycat incidents, but where do you draw the line with it comes to protecting the privacy of individuals who may pose a threat?

According to sources, an incident took place at Fox Chapel Middle School three days before the Nashville shooting, that both school and law enforcement officials have kept under wraps. Sources say on March 24th, a transgender teacher at Fox Chapel made threats to shoot herself and her students. The incident was reported to administrators who then counseled the teacher and sent her home for the day. The School Resource Officer was notified after the fact, who immediately requested a deputy respond to the teacher's home. There are conflicting reports that say the teacher voluntarily surrendered firearms to the deputy, however, another source says there were no firearms at all. A public record search on the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office website identifies the teacher as Ashlee Belle Renczkowski (formerly Alexander), a relative of Hernando County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Renczkowski.

A second source, who asked to remain anonymous, asked to deliver a message on behalf of the teacher. "This has been blown out of proportion and it's being dealt with through confidential remedies," according to the source. The same source says the teacher has been the focus of several public attacks by former School Board candidate Monty Floyd, who has been extremely critical of transgender teachers in schools. Those and other attacks are why sources say the teacher made those comments.

After learning of the incident, R News immediately contacted the Hernando County School District (HCSD) and Hernando County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) to confirm the information. When asked, School District Public Information Officer Karen Jordan replied, "I [can not] speak to your source, but your information is not correct." We did not receive a reply from the Sheriff's Office. After confirming the incident did indeed occur, albeit slightly different narratives, we asked the District why they stated the information was false? We also asked the HCSD and HCSO why they did not immediately inform parents of the investigation. We have received no further comment from officials.

It should be noted that the teacher is still employed at Fox Chapel Middle School.

We will bring more on this story if new information develops.