Answers sought in school slaying

SUDBURY -- An overflow crowd of somber residents came to Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School last night, seeking to understand how the school's seeming safety was shattered when a 15-year-old freshman was stabbed to death last week and a special needs student was charged in the killing.

But school and town officials had no ready answers, only promises to conduct a thorough investigation of school policies as they analyze what led to the Jan. 19 killing of James Alenson. Fellow student John Odgren, 16, of Princeton, who was enrolled in a program monitoring special education students with emotional or behavioral problems, was charged with fatally stabbing Alenson in a boys' bathroom.

"Tonight we are here because one of our own was killed here in this school," Sarah Cannon-Holden, chairwoman of the Lincoln Board of Selectmen, told the crowd of about 1,000. "We mourn his death, and we'll do our best to learn from this tragedy." She promised to undertake a vigorous review of school policies.

She said a panel of citizens and officials would examine such issues as: "What happened? How could it have happened? Did we miss something? How can we prevent such violence from happening again?"

The review committee will include police officers, Lincoln and Sudbury selectmen and School Committee members, any outside agencies that might provide help, and parents. The panel is to issue recommendations after conducting a comprehensive review.

In a lengthy e-mail sent to parents and students Wednesday, the high school's principal, John Ritchie, seemed to expect criticism from frightened and angry parents.

Last night, he told the hushed crowd, "I and we need to look at this thing as closely as we can to see if there is anything we should have and could have done differently."

Ritchie said he wants the review committee to include members of the public who are not directly involved with the school, so the public will take its findings seriously.

"If you don't have other eyes looking at things, you can miss things," he said. "We want to make sure that it's representative and that it's credible."

Ritchie did not provide specific details about the committee's focus. He said the idea is to examine as much as possible about the school and its policies, including the screening process for Great Opportunities, Odgren's special needs program, and whether students were effectively encouraged to talk openly with administrators.

Ritchie also defended the GO program, saying it does not serve students with "hostile tendencies" but emotionally fragile youngsters who require special attention.

With some 750 people packing the auditorium, the overflow crowd was seated in a lecture hall, and when those 150 seats were taken, school staff diverted about 100 remaining people to the cafeteria, where they watched the proceedings on television.

One parent in the auditorium cited a state report, written about in The Boston Globe, that described Odgren's behavioral problems at other schools before he arrived at Lincoln-Sudbury, where he is a sophomore.

"Until we find answers for how that kid passed through the cracks, I will not feel safe for my daughter," said Rich Newman, whose child is a freshman at the high school.

Edward Orenstein -- director of the Concord Area Special Education Collaborative, which placed Odgren in GO -- said he was not aware of the report when the boy was admitted.

"There was nothing in the record about dangerous or violent behavior," he told the crowd.

He also said he was told by someone with knowledge of the state report that the incidents of physically aggressive behavior included throwing a book off a desk and kicking a fellow student in the shins. The report obtained by the Globe did not provide specific details about Odgren's behavior.

"All I can say is there is far more of a context than what was reported" in the newspaper, Ritchie said, but did not provide more details.

School officials invited area religious leaders, Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr., area police officers, and special education specialists to speak at the meeting to provide students, parents, and other community members information about the school's response to the stabbing.

Emily Hinteregger, a senior from Sudbury, told the crowd she felt secure coming back to school on Monday.

"I can't emphasize enough how much the teachers look after the students," she told the audience, most of them parents of Lincoln-Sudbury students. "There is no other place I wanted to be besides school, because I wanted to be with my peers. I feel safe with my peers."

In his memo, Ritchie said that one parent contacted him anonymously to tell him the community needed to hear more than rhetoric that the school was still "a safe place."

"I don't feel criticized or attacked by being asked hard questions, but ask for a little patience so I can continue to attend to the immediate needs of people at my school," he wrote.

In a special edition of the student newspaper, the Forum, several students reflected on the effect the stabbing has had on them.

The student paper, published Tuesday, also included an obituary of Alenson, a quiet, shy student whose family had only recently moved to Sudbury from Natick. The paper also expressed sorrow for what Odgren's family is going through.

Jessica Somerville, a junior, said she feels terrible for both families. "I hope John uses this memory to shape himself to become a better person and perhaps help prevent kids in the future from making the same mistake."

Odgren remains at a juvenile detention center, where he has been allowed to see his parents only once since he was incarcerated last Friday, said his lawyer, Jonathan Shapiro.

Shapiro said rules set by the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office, which oversees facilities run by the Department of Youth Services, typically allow no visits from family or friends during the first 11 days of incarceration.

Odgren's parents were allowed to visit their son after Shapiro complained to officials, he said.

Odgren's parents were not allowed to touch their son during the visit, which took place with John Odgren sitting behind a glass pane, Shapiro said.

He said the teenager was very upset by the restrictions.

John Birtwell, a spokesman for the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, said last night he was not aware of the rules regarding visits for Odgren.

In his memo, Ritchie implored the community not to stereotype special education students. Odgren, who is diagnosed with a hyperactivity disorder and with Asperger's disorder, a form of autism, allegedly had boasted of violence and told students he had a gun at home. Specialists have said the diagnosed condition does not make someone more prone to violence.

In his e-mail, the principal wrote that sometimes "the stories we conjure to help us make meaning out of tragedy are based on illusions or falsehoods."

He said he had received a note saying: " 'Dr. Ritchie, I am a student with a mild form of Asperger Syndrome, and I am scared that now everybody thinks I'm a violent person.'

"Sorry, that's just not fair that any kid would have to feel that way."

Patricia Wen of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.