Student Ejected for Alleged Threats; Washington-Lee Parents Are `Thoroughly Relieved' by Decision

A student at Arlington's Washington-Lee High School accused ofscrawling death threats against classmates and school officials in ayearbook has been removed from the school after appeals from twoparents whose sons were allegedly targeted.

School officials have not specified how they plan to punish theaccused student, a rising sophomore whose identity is being withheldby administrators. But Rudy Richter, who said his 15-year-old son,Andrew, was one of the boys who was threatened, said yesterday thatPrincipal William Sharbaugh had told him that the accused youth willnot attend Washington-Lee during the school year that beginsTuesday.

Rudy Richter and Bob Houck, who said his 15-year-old son, alsonamed Andrew, was among the threatened students, went to theArlington School Board's meeting on Thursday to ask the panel toremove the accused youth from the high school. The youth's allegedthreat, Richter told the board, "needs to be taken very seriously."

Richter and Houck say they became aware of a problem in June,when school administrators informed them that a Washington-Leestudent had written in a classmate's yearbook about wanting to killtheir sons, who will be sophomores this year.

Rudy Richter's wife, Diane, said she was told by anotherparent who had seen the yearbook that the accused youth had listedseveral other students, teachers, Sharbaugh and an assistantprincipal and had drawn gun sights over the yearbook photos of thosehe mentioned.

Sharbaugh and Arlington School Superintendent Robert G. Smithdid not return telephone calls yesterday. Lisa Farbstein, aspokeswoman for the school board, declined to provide details of theincident, citing the privacy of the accused student.

"It's a matter between the school system and one student," shesaid.

The incident is the latest of several such episodes involvingWashington area schools. In June, a Fairfax High School student whoposted a "death list" of 17 names on an Internet Web site wasexpelled, as was a Herndon High School youth who wrote a note namingseven students he supposedly wanted dead and a Key Middle Schoolstudent who threatened to put a bomb in a teacher's cabinet.

Also in June, a Loudoun County high school student wassuspended for allegedly sending a teacher a letter threatening tokill other students.

Richter said he was relieved that the accused youth would notbe returning to Washington-Lee. The Richters said they did not wantthe youth to encounter their son in any classes or activities.

"I am thoroughly relieved," Diane Richter said. "I can send mykid to school and not worry that there is some kid {there} whodoesn't want to see him on this earth."