An incident last week at Brecknock Elementary School that triggered a police investigation has galvanized parents who say discipline problems have multiplied among fourth-graders at the school.

About a dozen parents Monday told the Eastern Lancaster County School Board and administrators that the incident — in which a student's mother called police to report that a 9-year-old boy had threatened to bring a weapon to school — is an indication of an ongoing discipline problem.

Parents and administrators said Monday that the boy has not been back to school since the incident on March 9. Investigations by Pennsylvania State Police and school officials have concluded that the boy is not "a real threat," Elanco Superintendent Robert Hollister said.

But parents at an emotionally charged board meeting said the boy is among anywhere from a handful to one-third of the entire fourth-grade class who've disrupted learning since the class began first grade at Brecknock Elementary.

Deb O'Neil of Bowmansville said the grade struggles with "ongoing, unresolved behavioral and learning issues."

"Regardless of any beliefs about last week's situation, the fact is that it was an indicator of a larger, grade-wide problem," O'Neil said.

Parents said discipline problems range from students constantly whining to standing on desks to acting out by flailing their arms during class. The disruptions have affected test scores, such as "rocket math" quizzes that are strictly timed, said Andrea Owens of Fivepointville.

"We want to know when the district is going to finally get a grip on these ongoing issues that have claimed our children's classrooms for years," Owens said. "Our children deserve a healthy environment in which learning can occur."

Hollister said he was surprised by the range of the parents' allegations.

"It is not a third of the class (with discipline problems)," Hollister stressed. "We're going to look into this. I know the reputation for this class has existed for some time, but I don't want to paint a whole class like this — that's bad."

He asked the parents to submit detailed concerns and accounts of unruly behavior at Brecknock Elementary.

Sarah Albertson of Bowmansville said the actions of as many as six students in each of Brecknock's three fourth-grade classes have made classmates fearful and that discipline problems "are spreading like a cancer."

"The outright defiance, disrespect and profanity is that extreme," Albertson said. "I think any of these parents can give examples that would make your mouth gape open."

One mother said privately that her frustration level led her to enroll her child in an Internet school for next year.

O'Neil said she fears that the fallout from disciplinary problems is manifested in test scores. She said Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores for Brecknock fourth-graders have dipped substantially.

School board president Glenn Yoder said that teachers are obligated to follow the law when punishing a child, but he promised to examine the parents' request to develop new discipline methods at Brecknock.

"Guidance counselors, teachers and principals have worked tirelessly within the limitations of their office to foster a better environment in the classroom," O'Neil said. "Unfortunately, we have seen very little maturity or behavioral growth. In fact we've seen the opposite."