BREAKING NEWS: Unauthorized Individual Rode School Bus to James Monroe High School
The individual was apprehended by school staff and did not enter the building.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
This story was updated at 5:24 p.m. with new information provided by deputy superintendent Matt Eberhardt.
An unauthorized, masked individual rode a school bus to James Monroe High School this morning and attempted to enter the building.
When school staff refused access, the man assaulted a staff member, according to Fredericksburg Police.
Police took the individual, Jordan Cromes, 32, of Spotsylvania, into custody at 7:49 a.m. He has been charged with two counts of trespassing, as well as disorderly conduct, assault, and felony wearing of a mask in public.
According to deputy superintendent Matt Eberhardt, Cromes boarded a bus being driven by the regularly-assigned bus driver.
Eberhardt said a student alerted administration of Cromes’s presence from the bus.
The school division notified parents of James Monroe students of the incident at 8:17 a.m. Fredericksburg Police posted an announcement of the arrest at 11:30 a.m.
At around 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, the school division sent a message to the entire school community.
“This morning, two messages went out to JM families that should have gone to all FCPS. Our intent always is to keep everyone informed. We apologize for this oversight,” the message stated.
It continued, “At the time of our first message to JM families, we knew everyone was safe, and the individual had not entered the building.”
“Division and school administrators worked collaboratively with police to gather more information and details on the first incident. We learned the individual was on our school bus illegally. Fortunately, students alerted adults of his presence, and he was stopped and denied access to the high school.”
Eberhardt said the division is “continuing to investigate and to review bus tapes and JM camera footage to learn more,” about the incident.
“It is probably a good thing to look at all processes, review expectations, and accelerate our badge-in system for student ridership,” he said.
In addition to the 8:17 a.m. message about the individual attempting to enter the school, the division sent a second message to James Monroe families at 9:11 a.m.
That message stated, “We learned this morning, after students and staff entered the building, a door was left open last night. Out of an abundance of caution, we entered Stay Put/Stay Tuned while police performed a clean sweep of the building and nothing was found out of the ordinary.”
The 3:30 p.m. message noted that, “We presented the information in a timely fashion to JM and should have done the same to the entire division. Our goal is always to communicate with everyone.”
Stay with the Advance as we follow up on this incident and publish more information as it becomes available.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
