Incident resolved quickly
Students at Garrison Middle School were gathered together Monday afternoon (Jan. 7) to hear an explanation about two .22-caliber bullets that had been found in the school earlier that day. Parents were notified of the incident via a letter the same day.
The letter explained that a middle school student had found a bullet on the floor of the middle school hallway and had brought it to a teacher. The second bullet was found by another teacher. Principal Stephanie Impellittiere investigated and discovered that a student had gone out shooting with an adult relative over the weekend and had forgotten the bullets were in his pocket. Impellittiere called the student’s mother, who confirmed his account.
The school also reported in the letter that the authorities were contacted and “appropriate corrective action has been taken with the student.”
Superintendent Gloria Colucci stated Tuesday that there was no commotion throughout the incident. “The school district has procedures in place to handle this type of event. They were implemented and worked right away,” she wrote in an email. “Within a few minutes, we knew who was responsible and took the appropriate actions.”
Many of the students were unaware of the incident until hearing from the principal that afternoon, and they were encouraged to do what was done by the student who had found the bullet. “This was an instructional moment for our students,” wrote Colucci, “to demonstrate the value of ‘saying something when you see something’ and to congratulate the student who immediately reported what he found to his teacher.”
I am encouraged by this story–from the student who found the bullet, to the teacher, principal and superintendent–everyone understood and followed school procedure appropriately, and the issue was handled. Like fire drills, lockdown drills and all the safety procedures we put in place in our schools, they are reassuring, and they reinforce the understanding that good training is relevant to safety and order.