Jennifer Rice, the former Tacoma teacher convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old student, was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison Friday.

There was no argument over the what Rice's punishment would be. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Gary Steiner followed state statutes in imposing the sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

"This was a terrible violation of trust," Steiner told Rice before imposing her sentence. "I think the acts themselves speak to the significance of the crime."

Rice made no excuses for her behavior and recognized the hurt she's caused to many people.

"I am desperately sorry for what I have done," Rice said. "My behavior was careless, impulsive and selfish.

"I am here today as a result of my poor decisions."

Steiner convicted Rice in April of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree rape. He found the kidnapping and child molestation charges were predatory offenses because the victim was a student. The predatory designation - required when a teacher is accused of certain sex crimes - meant Rice faced stiffer sentencing requirements.

Prosecutors contended that Rice had a sexual relationship with the 10-year-old boy for several months while she was a teacher at Tacoma's McKinley Elementary School. The ordeal came to light in August 2007, when Rice sneaked the boy out of his home and drove him to Ellensburg. The two had had sex at a rest stop before she returned him to his home, court documents alleged.

During the course of the investigation, detectives discovered Rice also had sex twice with the boy's older brother in July 2007.

Rice chose to have a "stipulated facts" trial during which an agreed upon set of facts in the case was presented by prosecutors and Rice's defense team to Steiner. The judge then reviewed the facts before making his decision. The victims did not have to testify.

Neither the victims nor their parents attended Friday's sentencing hearing. Attorneys for the family, which has sued the Tacoma, Bethel and Yelm school districts, did attend but declined to comment afterward.

The family's civil suit alleges the schools districts negligently hired and supervised Rice and didn't do enough to protect the students from her.

Thirteen friends and relatives of Rice, including her parents and husband, attended the sentencing hearing and reiterated their support for her. Rice's father, husband and a friend spoke on her behalf during the hearing. None excused her behavior but told Steiner they still loved and supported her.

"We would give anything to change what's happened," her husband said.

The state has revoked Rice's licenses to work as a teacher and counselor.

While reading an essay this morning on legalizing marijuana, a 17-year-old Peninsula High School student pulled out a joint and lit it, the Pierce County Sheriff's Department reports.

The student smoked the joint, then swallowed the remnants. He's now in Remann Hall juvenile jail on suspicion of possession of marijuana, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. The Pensinsula School District is also reviewing what happened.

"If people want that law changed, they need to go about it the right way and not flaunt it," Troyer said.

About 150 students and teachers were gathered in the auditorium at Peninsula High School this morning, sharing essays, Troyer said.

One student read his essay arguing for legalizing marijuana, pulled out a joint and started smoking it.

The school resource officer was called. By the time the deputy arrived, the student had finished smoking and swallowed the remnants, Troyer said.

A small amount of marijuana was found in the student's possession. The boy was arrested and taken to Remann Hall juvenile jail. His parents were contacted, Troyer said.

UPDATE: The Peninsula School District has released some information about what happened this morning at Peninsula High School.

Each month, the English department at Peninsula High School has a gathering to celebrate student work in English classes. The gathering is called "Rhetoric Rebels," said Terry Bouck, the district superintendent.

"It's really a vehicle for showcasing students work," Bouck said.

The students present their assignments in class first, then turn them in for grading. A selection of the assignments are chosen for presentation during the monthly gatherings.

The English department has had this tradition for the past 10 years with no problem, Bouck said.

That is until today.

Three 11th grade English classes were gathered together for the monthly "Rhetoric Rebels." The students had written persuasive speeches a couple of weeks ago, Bouck said. The students turned them in without an ending.

The students who were selected to present today had new endings on their speeches.

The 17-year-old boy was among those chosen for today's "Rhetoric Rebels." He gave his persuasive speech on the legalization of marijuana.

"At the end of his speech, he pulled out a marijuana joint, lit it and began to smoke it," Bouck said.

Officials brought the student to the office, "where appropriate action was taken," Bouck said.

He declined to be more specific about the discipline the student faces.

"We really support freedom of speech but when someone does something illegal in our schools, we take swift action," the superintendent said. "We encourage diverse opinions but we also have a no tolerance for any type of drugs or alcohol in our schools and will take immediate action."

Broken water pipes are forcing the early dismissal of students at Weyerhaeuser Elementary School in Eatonville.

The school will early at 12 p.m.

Sumner school officials plan to resume classes Friday at Lakeridge Middle School.

The school sent students home this morning after diesel fumes from a backhoe began drifting into the school's ventilation system.

The fumes didn't sicken students.

District spokeswoman Ann Cook says the school will run the heating-ventilation system tonight and conduct additional air tests Friday.

About 550 students attend the middle school.

Here's the automated e-mail the district sent at 4:22 p.m. today:

=> Read more!

The Puyallup School District decided today to not close Edgemont Junior High after a student developed a probable case of H1N1 (swine) flu.

Officials were told Saturday that the student may have the virus. Specimens have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be confirmed.

Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department officials recommended that the school and Walker High School, where the student's sibling attends, stay open.

District officials last week increased efforts to clean all "high-touch surfaces" – door knobs, desks, chairs, etc.

Two of three Lakewood students identified overnight as possible swine flu victims are in intensive care at Madigan Army Medical Center, TNT education reporter Debby Abe reports this morning after talking to Clover Park School District officials. The other student was released to recover at home.

Lakes High School was shut down as a precaution Friday as health officials determine whether the pair of possible cases develops into probable or definite cases of swine flu.

One of the sick Lakes students had been to Mexico recently, according to district spokeswoman Kim Prentice.

Two of the individuals are boys and one is a girl, Prentice said. One student is 17 years old; the spokeswoman said she didn't know the ages of the other two. All three are friends.

Prentice said she didn't know if the students were taken to Madigan because they are children of military personnel. She also said she didn't know if the students had siblings in other Lakewood schools.

Custodial staff in other schools have been instructed to do extra cleaning on stairway rails, doorknobs and other high-contact areas, as a precaution, she said.

At Lakes, John Horne's crew was busy wiping down surfaces in the cafeteria and hallways. Special attention was being paid to the classrooms where the three students took classes.

Clover Park was notified at 12:30 a.m. Friday when the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department called to say Madigan was treating three students with flu-like symptoms who were undergoing further tests to see if they were infected with the swine flu virus.

The health department advised a one-day closure, and parents and staff received phone calls about 5:15 a.m.

Lakes Athletic Director Joe Keller said all sports have been canceled and will be rescheduled.

A decision about whether to close the school for a longer period, as districts in Snohomish and King counties have already done, won't be made until more conclusive testing comes back from a state laboratory. Prentice said the testing won't be complete until later today or Saturday.

At a news conference this morning, local Health Department Director Dr. Anthony Chen said that officials only know at this point that the students had contracted an Influenza A virus. Swine flu is part of that larger virus family. Local testing can only determine that the students possibly have swine flu.

"We're taking an abundance of caution here," Chen said.

In the school districts north of Pierce County, officials have already classified their cases as "probable" because state testing is more conclusive. A final round of testing is done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Lakewood City Manager Andrew Neiditz learned about the Lakes closure
via a 5 a.m. phone call today from the health department. He said it's his understanding that if the three students are found to be carriers of swine flu, the health department would recommend the high school be closed seven days.

Prentice said Clover Park will do what the health department advises.

Word of the Lakes incident got around early Friday. Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy took the unusual step of mentioning it to a crowd of 1,300 people at the Pierce County Prayer Breakfast.

During welcoming remarks at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall, McCarthy said Pierce County government and health-care providers are “ready to deal with any kind of crisis we may have.”

“You’re in good hands,” McCarthy said. “We have people ready and able to really deal with any problems that may occur from this virus.

“I wanted you to know that and feel confident in that,” McCarthy told the crowd.
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News Tribune staff reporters Debby Abe, Steve Maynard and Brent Champaco contributed to this report.

There is a stepped up police presence at Annie Wright School today after a threat was found on the Internet, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

Tacoma police was informed about a threat regarding the school that had been posted on the Internet. A person in the Midwest called the department about the threat, which had already been taken down, Fulghum said.

UPDATE: The school is on a modified lockdown today. Students are attending classes as normal, said school spokeswoman Sara Titus.

School officials are keeping parents informed through e-mails and voicemails.

No problems have been reported at the school.

UPDATE 2: Here are a few more details.

Tacoma police investigators have received a copy of the threatening web posting and are looking into where it was posted and by whom, Fulghum said.

The person who posted the threat mentioned being upset and "going out with style" and "blood on the water" at Annie Wright High School in Tacoma, WA.

"We can't tell where it was posted," Fulghum said.

The department was notified of the threat 2 a.m. today. Officers tried to find it but found it had been deleted.

Two Tacoma police officers have been stationed at the private school. Fulghum also reported no problems.

Mason Middle School has been in lockdown this afternoon after a 13-year-old boy was found on campus with a gun.

School officials have the gun and no one has been injured, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

The student has been booked into Remann Hall on suspicion of bringing a weapon onto school grounds.

School administrators called Tacoma police 12:45 p.m. today after they detained a boy who brought a gun to school for protection against some older kids, Fulghum said.

Officials had the gun. The boys' parents reported another weapon was missing from the house. The school, 2812 N. Madison St., was in lockdown as Tacoma police investigated where the second weapon was.

It's since been accounted for, Fulghum reported.

Students were being let out of the school.

KIRO TV is reporting:

Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma has gone into lockdown as a precaution after a burglary occurred in the area, reports KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

After the burglary, the robbers were seen in a car that may have crashed and then the robbers took off, police said.

The school is in lockdown as a precaution and police said there is no reason to believe that the robbers were or are on campus.

An Eatonville High School student is recovering today after being hit and injured by a school bus on Thursday afternoon.

The 14-year-old boy was "pretty banged up" and suffered internal injuries, Eatonville School District Superintendent Raymond Arment said Friday. The boy was being treated at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Health Center in Tacoma.

Eatonville police were trying to figure out what happened Thursday afternoon.

The boy, a ninth grader, was hit by the bus as he was crossing the street about 1:45 p.m. at the intersection of Center Street East and Washington Avenue East, Arment said. He tumbled under the bus.

"We don't know what happened," Arment said.

Officers interviewed witnesses and a reconstruction of the accident was planned.

After the accident, the 65-year-old bus driver was taken for mandatory drug and alcohol testing. Arment said there were no signs of impairment at the scene.

The driver has been placed on paid administrative leave. She's been a driver with the district for 17 years and has had no previous problems, Arment said.

"She is very distraught," Arment said. "She's one of our more experienced driver, a very cautious driver."

Arment went to Mary Bridge Hospital on Thursday night and visited with the boy's family. He said the boy is expected to make a full recovery.

Eatonville schools were not in session Friday because of a regularly-scheduled teacher in-service day.

On Monday, officials will offer counseling for any students who need to talk. They'll also have a book available for classmates to send well wishes to the injured teen, Arment said.

Pierce County sheriff's deputies have arrested three teenage boys suspected of having two loaded guns at Bethel Junior High School on Tuesday.

The boys, two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old, were booked into Remann Hall juvenile jail Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. They were not being cooperative with investigators.

The Bethel School District plans to discipline the boys according to district policy and state law, spokeswoman Krista Carlson said.

"There is going to be no leniency in this matter," she said. "There is zero tolerance for weapons in our schools."

Students told school officials there were rumors of the guns on campus Tuesday. Teachers, a school resource officer and sheriff's deputies investigated. One weapon was found 15 minutes before the end of the school day and one student identified and suspended, Carlson said.

The investigation continued the next day and included a sweep of the school by a police dog, Carlson said.

Investigators found two guns - one was hidden in a book bag in a garbage can and the other off school grounds, Troyer and Carlson said. The three boys were arrested.

"All three had been in possession of the handguns while at school," Troyer said. "By the time the day was done, we had three in custody and recovered two handguns and some ammunition."

The boys' had not injured anyone and investigators do not believe they had a "sinister plot," Troyer said. Investigators were looking into the students' backgrounds.

"We'll have it all cleared up," Troyer said.

A letter went home to families of Bethel Junior High School students on Wednesday. A phone message was also left for parents, Carlson said.

Troyer praised the students for coming forward.

"The wall of silence is down," he said. "Kids don't want this in their schools. It's disruptive."

Carlson concurred.

"It's important," she said. "That's how we make sure all of our students stay safe."

Keithley Middle School in Parkland was locked down for an hour this morning after a student reported seeing another student with a BB-gun type of pistol, Franklin Pierce School District officials said.

Authorities searched the school but couldn’t find a student with a BB gun, district spokesman Willie Painter said.

The student reported seeing a boy brandishing a BB pistol in a school bathroom this morning, precipitating the 10:30 a.m. “modified” lockdown, Painter said.

A modified lockdown means the school’s exterior doors are locked so that no one can enter or leave the building, but classes go on as usual. Full lockdowns call for locking of interior doors and windows, turning off lights, taping of classroom door windows and students moving away from doors.

The modified lockdown ended at 11:40 a.m., but a school resource officer who's an off-duty Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy, will remain at the school the rest of the day.

The school is sending a note home to parents about the modified lockdown, Painter said.

Debby Abe, The News Tribune