By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Monday morning in a hallway at Centre USD 397, a custodian found a magazine clip containing ammunition and reported it to Superintendent Jerri Kemble.

Kemble reported the find to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and they responded.

To ensure the safety of students and staff, officers checked lockers for a weapon and interrogated students.

While classes continued, students were locked in their classrooms and were taken out, one classroom at a time, for questioning.

Kemble said students in five classrooms had been questioned when one student stepped forward and acknowledged that he had been hunting and had forgotten the clip was in his pocket.

Kemble said students lost just 10 minutes of class time during the hour that officers were there.

“It was very swift and efficient, and it went very well,” she said.

Kemble consulted the school’s attorney on how to handle the situation. He advised that because no weapon was involved and it is not illegal to possess ammunition, expulsion was not necessary.

Kemble said she decided to suspend the student for five days “to send a message” that nothing related to firearms is allowed in the school.