Scott Powers
Sean Ashby, a teacher and Democrat running in the House District 50 race, is asking Orange County school officials if student safety protocols were sufficient in a recent investigation of an alleged student abduction attempt.
Ashby is raising questions about an April 29 incident which did not become public until almost two weeks later. Hours after the Orange County Sheriff’s Office solicited media help in the investigation on May 10, an arrest was made.
“In late April there was an alleged attempted abduction of a Timber Creek High School student and the suspect was not caught until two weeks later. It seems that there was a breakdown of communication between the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and OCPS because parents were not advised until two weeks later,” Ashby stated in a letter he sent Thursday to Orange County Public Schools Chairman Bill Sublette and members of the school board.
Ashby has no Democratic opponents in the Aug. 30 primary for HD 50, which covers east Orange County and north Brevard County. The Republicans have state Rep. Rene Plasencia, another teacher, who has moved from his current base in HD 50, and George Collins.
Citing his status as a parent, teacher and citizen, Ashby asked the board to investigate why the schools were not immediately made aware “of this potentially life-threatening situation until two weeks after it allegedly occurred.”
Ashby is a teacher at Timber Creek and has two daughters who attend the school. “I would say this affected me on a couple levels,” he said.
Specifically, he asked the board to check into when the alleged abduction attempt was reported; whether state laws regarding notification of schools were followed; and if so, whether they should be changed to assure more prompt notifications; what the sheriff’s office policies are; and whether there are any agreements between the sheriff’s office and the schools regarding notifications.
“The fact of the matter is, we almost lost a young member of our community in this attempted abduction,” Ashby said. “The suspect roamed the streets of Avalon Park area which includes the daily walk and biking traffic of students from seven schools for two weeks before anybody knew that this occurred. I feel that it is in the best interest of the board to find out why the schools, parents and community were not warned earlier.”
