A 65-year-old teacher at Blue Lake Elementary School in DeLand was charged with making a false threat concerning the planting of a bomb or use of a firearm on Friday, Sept. 12, according to court records and sources.
Armando Arends of Orange City was released on $5,000 bond on Saturday. The charge is a second-degree felony.
Volusia County Schools released a statement that said law enforcement responded to the school on Friday afternoon after a report that a staff member “allegedly made a concerning statement directed toward an individual who was not on the campus.”
No students were threatened, and the Volusia County Schools Professional Standards Office is also investigating the matter, the statement continued. The individual arrested was a teacher who began working with the school system on Aug. 5, 2025. He was placed on leave.
Details about the nature of the threat were unavailable Sunday, and attempts to reach the DeLand Police Department were unsuccessful. Arends did sign a no-contact order, prohibiting him from speaking to three women, court records show.
State education records show there is an Armando Nicolas Arends with a “non-renewable temporary” license that is scheduled to expire June 30, 2028. His subject area is listed as “World Language – Spanish.”
According to a LinkedIn profile, Arends teaches English as a second language.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Teacher at Blue Lake Elementary School charged with making a false threat of violence
Reporting by John Dunbar, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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