Date: Tuesday, September 1, 1998 
Page: A01 
Edition: FIFTH 
Section: NATIONAL 
 

Saying it wants to send a strong message to the community that threats against its staff and students will not be tolerated, the Bethlehem Area School Board expelled two eighth-graders Monday for their involvement in a World Wide Web site that contained threats to two teachers. 

"No child, no parent is ever going to threaten one of our teachers and get away with it," school Director Ed Gallagher said.

 The 14-year-old boy who created the site, which solicited money to hire a hit man to kill a math teacher, was expelled permanently. The other boy, who threatened to kill his German teacher in an electronic message he sent to the site, was expelled for one year, but can petition the district to return after that time.

 The board's unanimous vote came after several months of controversy that began in May when school officials discovered the site, which contained lurid and derogatory comments about two Nitschmann Middle School teachers and Principal A. Thomas Kartsotis. 

Before the vote, school directors denounced the threats and lashed out at the conduct of the boy who created the site and his parents during his expulsion hearing last month.

 Director Charlene Koch said she was "absolutely appalled" by the way the family acted when told of the emotional devastation the threats and raunchy statements had on the targeted teachers. 

"They sat and laughed over and over again," she said. "When it comes to jokes about killing teachers, we have no sense of humor."

 Director Joseph Craig said the board listened to 24-1/2 hours of testimony, so no one can say the students were denied fair hearings.

 "We may have a situation where we have some problems -- every district does. But no one is going to threaten anyone associated with this school district while I'm around," he said. 

Superintendent Thomas Doluisio said the district has a "deep concern" for its employees and will stand behind them. 

"Morale is a concern," he said. "Teachers coming to school in fear of their lives is a concern."

 Students are responsible for their actions, as are their parents, he said. "There is no room in a civilized society for this type of behavior." 

Craig Zieger, head of the teachers union, congratulated the board on expelling the students, saying they did the right thing.

 "It's never been an issue of free speech," he said. "Threatening the lives of others in 1789 (when the Constitution was ratified) was not a free-speech item and it's not one now."

 No criminal charges were filed because Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli ruled there was no intent to communicate the threats to the teachers or solicit the money to hire a "hit man" because no address was given where it could be sent. 

But under the district's Code of Conduct, threats are considered a serious offense punishable by expulsion.

 The father of the boy who created the site said previously his son had been angry at his math teacher for belittling him, flicking him behind the ears, and hitting him with a pillow while in class. His son created the site to vent his frustration, he said.

 The site featured a photograph of the math teacher that changed into Adolf Hitler, profanity, answers to an algebra test, 20 reasons why the math teacher should die, 20 reasons to hate the German teacher, criticism of Kartsotis, and footage of an execution. It also encouraged visitors to comment on the teachers and site.

 After the site was discovered in May, the math teacher, fearing for her life and not wanting to incite a school shooting, took a leave of absence.

 It is not clear whether she'll return to the classroom this year.