TRAVERSE CITY -- He's in a new school, getting good grades and beginning to think about plans for college.
It's been nearly eight months since the boy, then a 15-year-old sophomore at Traverse City West Senior High, allegedly made statements to a school counselor about hurting himself and classmates.
Since then, his mother said, he and his family are moving ahead with their lives with the support of family and friends.
"We've talked pretty extensively about it," she said. "Our son is doing very well. He's dealt with the consequences of poor judgment."
The Record-Eagle has not published the student's name, and is withholding the mother's name to avoid disclosing her son's identity.
The student underwent counseling and has worked on his decision-making, his mother said.
She calls it a case of bad timing -- the statements were made 10 days after the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech. But school administrators simply did what they had to do, she said.
"The school had to act appropriately," she said. "I still believe the minute the police became involved, though, it was very poorly handled.
"There was no consideration of his privacy, whatsoever."
At the time, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Scott Fewins categorized the statements as "specific threats that he was going to shoot multiple students" and released the student's name to the media. Sheriff's deputies seized the family computer and guns found in the home as part of their investigation.
But Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider declined to charge the student, saying his comments to a counselor weren't considered a threat by law or "even common sense."
Fewins did not return repeated calls seeking comment.
The student's mother said authorities eventually returned all the seized guns and computer equipment.
Such incidents are rare in Traverse City Area Public Schools, Superintendent James Feil said. Most recently, a threatening message was found last week on a bathroom stall at Central High School.
"You don't want to alarm people when there isn't really a perceived material concern," Feil said. "We have zero tolerance for something that is done for a reason that really isn't threatening, but we have to take it as such."
The student, now 16, was indefinitely suspended following the incident and no longer attends classes in TCAPS, Feil said.
He would not disclose the reason the student left the district, citing privacy laws. But his mother said he was suspended for a year, and has since enrolled as a junior at a local charter school.
He would be eligible to return next school year, his mother said, but she doesn't think he will.
She hopes her son's situation doesn't keep more students from seeking help.
"We really just want everyone to know that there never really was an issue of anyone's safety," his mother said. "I really, really hope that children at the school are not afraid to go talk to a counselor because of what may happen."
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