(9-19-23) Several local residents attended last night’s Fort Recovery School Board meeting in support of Chris Siefring, who came to air concerns about the treatment of his son at Fort Recovery Middle School after an alleged bomb threat and gun threat. Siefring told the board that his son was wearing a heart monitor at the time and that it was rumored to be a bomb.

Siefring’s told the board his 12-year-old son, a seventh grader at Fort Recovery Middle School, was currently being held at the West Central Juvenile Detention Center in Troy, Ohio, until noon yesterday. He is now wearing an ankle monitor during the rest of his school suspension.

Siefring informed the board that his son has ‘disruptive mood dysregulation disorder‘.

Signs and symptoms

Children and adolescents with ‘Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder‘ experience:

  • Severe temper outbursts (verbal or behavioral), on average, three or more times per week
  • Outbursts and tantrums that have been ongoing for at least 12 months
  • Chronically irritable or angry mood most of the day, nearly every day
  • Trouble functioning due to irritability in more than one setting, such as at home, at school, or with peers

Youth with DMDD are typically diagnosed between the ages of 6 and 10. To be diagnosed with DMDD, a child must have experienced symptoms steadily for 12 or more months.

Siefring’s son was placed on suspension at home for five days. During his second day of suspension on September 12th, his teacher, who was working with the boy remotely, informed Theresa Siefring it appeared that her son may have had a gun. Theresa Siefring would then receive a call from the Darke County Sheriff’s Office letting her know that they were on the way to her home to do a welfare check on her son.

After a short time that is when School Board President Don Wendel stopped Siefring and moved the discussion into executive session which lasted for 45 minutes and then resumed the rest of the meeting.