Lincoln County Schools has been made aware that a student at Highland Elementary was in possession of a firearm at the school on August 14th. The incident was self reported to school officials yesterday by caregivers of the student and was immediately investigated by the Stanford Police Department. SPD has concluded their investigation this afternoon and filed three separate charges against the student in connection with the incident.
“We were given this information last night and immediately began our investigation,” said SRO Chase Marcum with the Stanford Police Department. “This was the first time we had heard anything about this and our initial investigation verifies that no one at the school knew anything about this until it was reported to school officials last night. The student was not on campus today while we wrapped up our investigation and the school was deemed safe for normal operations today by SPD."
Superintendent Bruce Smith said he is thankful nothing happened at the school and that the incident was reported to Mrs. Montgomery, Highland Elementary Principal, yesterday evening. Mrs. Montgomery swiftly followed Board Policy and reported it to the superintendent and the SROs so that it could be properly addressed. “Ideally we would have known about this earlier, but we responded appropriately and quickly once the information was made known to us. School safety is the responsibility of everyone. Parents are encouraged to speak with their children about the severity of this situation and the consequences of bringing weapons or other banned items on our school campuses, and most importantly if you see something, say something.”
The student is facing disciplinary actions from the school along with the legal charges filed by SPD. Board policy prohibits weapons on the campuses of Lincoln County Schools and could lead to expulsion from District schools according to Policy 09.435.
Staff and students are always encouraged to report unsafe situations using the state's STOP Tipline (Link- https://bit.ly/3P1WUtJ) that can be found on our district website.
-LCSchools-