ST.JOHN’S, Antigua, Nov 15, CMC – The Director of Education, Clare Brown, has confirmed that a 15-year-old male student, who allegedly brought a firearm to school in September has been expelled.
The student had been spotted with a firearm on the Clare Hall Secondary School compound, resulting in law enforcement and education officials enforcing an immediate lockdown of the institution to facilitate a search.
However, while the weapon was not found, the teenager, along with other students, were taken into custody, but only the 15-year-old was charged.
The decision by the Ministry of Education to expel the student came after he admitted to bringing a loaded weapon containing “six or seven rounds” onto the school premises, during a meeting on Monday with his parents.
“You can’t bring a loaded gun into school and you get a slap on the wrist,” Browne told the Observer Radio, adding that the student had confessed to the incident.
“He said so within my hearing that he brought the gun into school, Browne said, adding that the investigation has widened to include several other students who may have been involved in the incident.
Browne said approximately eight young men were questioned, and their parents were called in for meetings.
“We met with the parents of everyone,” he said, noting that while the 15-year-old faces the most severe consequences, seven other students have been placed on behavioural contracts.
“Those seven young men were placed on contracts. They’re required to work hard, behave well; they’re also required to perform some major community service that will be monitored by the school.
“Anybody who brings a firearm into school, a loaded firearm with six or seven rounds, certainly you’re endangering the lives of those who operate within the school” he said, adding that the student, who cannot be named due to his age, will not be permitted to return to Clare Hall Secondary or any other public secondary school.
However, the Ministry of Education has committed to assisting the student in pursuing his education through alternative means.
“He has reached a certain chronological stage and so his parents will have to make provisions for him to continue his education outside of the public secondary school system,” Browne said, adding that the decision to expel the situation reflects a zero-tolerance approach to weapons in schools.
“It was a lot of deprivation. People were deprived of lunch … people started to feel unsafe,” he said in relation to the lockdown,” Browne told radio listeners.
Immediately after the incident, the 15-year-old student was placed on remand after appearing before the Child Justice Board. He was granted bail on November 5 following a second application to the High Court by his attorney Peyton Knight.
He faces a charge of having a firearm in his possession in furtherance of an offence, which is an offence under Section 13(1) of the Firearm Act Chapter 171 of the Revised Edition 1992 of the Laws of Antigua and Barbuda.
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