Pelion, SC (Paul Kirby) – The administration at Pelion Middle School and Lexington School District One are working with law enforcement after school leaders received reports that a student had a set of brass knuckles on campus. This allegedly occurred sometime Thursday and the school notified parents via e-mail to calm them and stop rumors about the incident that might be untrue or exaggerated.
According to an e-mail from the school’s principal, Thursday afternoon, several sixth-grade students reported to school administrators that they had seen another sixth-grader student with a set of brass knuckles on campus. The principal said that following the district’s procedures for this type of report, they began diligently following up on the reports. She went on to say that they were working with law enforcement in the investigation.
Principal Kailanya Brailey said in her e-mail that the school and district thought it was appropriate to notify parents early in the process because several students were discussing this issue throughout the afternoon. Brailey wrote, “Although we learned from students about this incident in the afternoon, several students stated that they learned about the brass knuckles allegedly being present as early as this morning.” They have not said how long their investigation will take as administrators want to make sure this is a thorough investigation that keeps the campus safe, but also allows any student involved due process.
Brailey also wrote, “Please help us by taking the opportunity tonight to remind your students how important it is to report concerns of this nature to school staff as quickly as possible. The faster we learn about it — the faster we can respond.”
District One’s Chief Communication Officer Mary Beth Hill has expressed many times before the importance of student communication with their schools’ administrators and staff about any threat they see on campus. Pelion Middle School does have an experienced school resource officer from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department that is well known and well liked by the student body. This makes him a valuable asset in keeping the school safe. The district also provides multiple ways to report incidents including a text system.
In closing her e-mail to parents, Brailey said, “Thank you for your patience while we complete our investigation.”
