Tri-City Sun

The Pinconning Area School District Board of Education discussed a student who brought a loaded pistol into Pinconning Middle School at a recent meeting, which can be viewed on YouTube.

Once authorities were notified of the situation on the afternoon of Jan. 10, they pulled the student from the classroom and confiscated the weapon.

The student reported that he had the weapon in his backpack from target practice over the weekend and forgot it was there. He said that when he noticed the firearm, he put it in his waistband because he was scared of getting in trouble. The student was sent to a juvenile detention center that night, and the Bay County prosecutor will decide what, if any, charges will be filed.

Parents were upset at the initial response to the incident because the school wasn’t immediately put into lockdown when authorities were aware of the situation. They perceived both a lack of response and some actions -- like preventing students from carrying purses -- as pointless.  Moreover, they were also angry that the district did not cancel school the next day and the lack of communication with parents and families, causing unnecessary stress and concern.

Superintendent Andy Kowalczyk addressed these concerns at the board meeting, giving an update on the situation.

“We invited all staff to attend a debriefing meeting that week that this happened. We had some half-days in there,” Kowalczyk said at the meeting. “So they were able to come into this room, and that was district-wide also. And it was a nice meeting where our resource officer was there, school board president was there. We had some ISD (independent school district) staff that were there who could also help with some questions. And we talked about everything.

"We talked about our communication, our student services, we talked about plans for future safety. So it was a nice start to looking back on this. And, like we said from the start, we are going to learn. This wasn't handled perfectly, by any means. We are happy the way it turned out, but we know that there are some things that we're going to discuss and talk about for future events. Hopefully not to this extent, but just so that parents are getting what they need.”

He added that the student would be punished and said he did not like the idea of metal detectors in the school because research has shown that they are inconsistent.

The school is also meeting with each class of students, bringing in state police officers to talk about the incident and what students should do in similar situations in the future.