Parent Penny Vagenas said she was angered and upset by the arrest and believes the situation must be "blown out of proportion." Vagenas's daughter, Becca Morse, 13, is in Wariner's elementary algebra class and has had an excellent experience with the teacher.

"I couldn't be happier with her as a teacher. She is the most gentle woman. She is 100 percent there for the students," Vagenas said. "If anything were said that was inappropriate, I'm sure it was a mistake. My daughter is in tears right now because she just watched the (television) news and they called (Wariner) her a terrorist."

According to Vagenas, Wariner had recently been treated for cancer, had been widowed and was facing the change in school assignments because the achievement test scores of her students had dropped. Still, the teacher had made extra time to help Morse keep her grades high and had promised to continue that help when the girl moved on to the next grade, Vagenas said.

"That is the kind of lady she is," said Vagenas, who works as an aide at a West Bountiful school and acknowledges the stress that teachers and staff experience. "I agree that we shouldn't taken any chances (with safety). But I also think that we need to take things in context."

District officials said that within the next week they will be talking to counterparts and perhaps some students to see if there's been any sort of behavior prior or anything that would lead to this situation.

"Our goal every day is to provide a safe learning environment not just for students but for our teachers and staff," Williams said. "When a threat is made this specific we have to take action."

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