LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An assistant principal at a Jefferson County high school is facing a five-day suspension after the district said he failed to take appropriate action when a student was found with a gun on school property.
Documents provided by Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) say Iroquois High School Assistant Principal Matt Kingsley discovered a gun in a student's backpack and did not immediately notify law enforcement, JCPS Security or school's principal of the incident.
A student was taken to Kingsley's office after reports he may have been smoking marijuana Aug. 11, according to the documents. The student told Kingsley he had not been smoking but was flickering a lighter. When Kingsley asked the student if he had anything else on him, the student showed him an e-cigarette.
Kingsley then asked to see the student's backpack and the student stated he did not want to go to jail, according to the documents. The student also mentioned having "beef" with "adult men in the neighborhood."
At the student's request, the security monitor was asked to leave the room before the student showed Kingsley the backpack. The student then told Kingsley there was a gun inside, documents show.
According to the documents, the student's father was contacted about the incident and told the student said it belonged to him.
The security monitor was called back into the room to search the student and his backpack. No bullets were found in the gun.
Documents show the student and gun were released to the student's father, while Kingsley reporting let the father know his son could face suspension.
When asked why he did not contact the principal about the incident sooner, documents show Kingsley said he was "in task completion mode."
"I felt like I got it, and will take care of it," Kingsley said in the conference.
In a letter to Kingsley, the district said, "As a school administrator who has attended School Administrators Safety Manual Training the past three years, you are responsible for taking appropriate and immediate action. Your failure to do so potentially put your students and staff at risk."
Kingsley will be suspended for five days without pay starting Nov. 18.
Some in the community are seeing an overarching issue, questioning whether the punishment should have been higher.
"Something that serious as a gun being held in school and you just essentially put the gun back in the situation where the kid can take it again if that's really what their goal was -- It's a police violation and business being business, you might have to let the guy go," said Dwan Hearn, who graduated from Iroquois High 20 years ago and now has four young kids in school. "A lot of people want Iroquois to turn around and be better, and a story like this knocks it back a few steps. It needs to be taken seriously, and LMPD needed [to have been] called."
We asked the Jefferson County Teachers Association for its thoughts, and as parents have questioned, whether the punishment was high enough.
"Different people could debate whether it's enough or not, but a suspension without pay is fairly significant. It's probably the next step before being totally terminated," said JCTA President Brent McKim.
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