Parents: Discipline too light of student who brought gun to school

Mounds --

In the wake of the Newtown shootings and the President’s recent gun control policy, security at local schools has been heightened. But some people are questioning how Liberty Schools handled an incident involving a student that brought a gun to school.

This all came to light during a school board meeting on Monday.
FOX23 News obtained a copy of the school board agenda which showed that during a public discussion session, a parent expressed concern over the weapon found on school property.

Principal, Matthew Sweet confirmed that the incident happened last semester, and that the school did discipline the student -- who is also a star athlete.
However, some parents say that the discipline was too easy - and that the school handled the situation lightly because of who the student is.

"If we start giving consideration as to who they are or what their grades are, then we will start giving privileges to everybody and making excuses,” says concerned parent, Sylvia Anderson.

Anderson is a mom of four children - all who go to Liberty schools. Following the Newtown shootings, she is adamant that her children never bring a weapon of any kind to class.

“We've checked to make sure they don't have pocket knives or little sticks or anything that might be considered a weapon,” she says.

The school says the student accidentally left the weapon inside his car.
He was heading to practice - and forgot it was still in his vehicle.

"We're a rural school, but it's safe to say it was an accident and there was no threat to the school,” says Sweet.

Typically, if a weapon is found on campus that student is suspended for one calendar year, but this was not the case in this situation. The school superintendent and the school board elected to give the student an in-house suspension instead.

The school says there was never any harm or threat to the other students and that it stands behind its discipline of the student. The school has a no-tolerance policy when it comes to weapons on campus of any kind.