At 3 p.m. Friday, April 2, USD497 was notified by the Lawrence Police Department that a student had an unloaded firearm in a vehicle parked on the LHS campus earlier in the day. 

   Several zero-tolerance policies regarding firearms on school campuses have been implemented within recent years nationwide.

   The student had left the LHS campus at 12:30 p.m. during open lunch. The student had been on campus for the entirety of the morning.

   “From there the student was off campus shooting BB Guns with other people,” Principal Matt Brungardt said. “The police were called to the scene, and during the course of questioning it was found that the student had his firearm unloaded in the student’s vehicle prior to the student’s departure.”  

   After discovering this information, the police notified USD497 district offices, which then contacted Brungardt. The district also utilized the SchoolMessenger system, designed to inform parents and guardians about an emergency.

   “In the event of an emergency, such as a threat to safety, or when immediate notification is required, such as a snow day, the district’s emergency notification system sends a recorded call to all phone numbers that a student/parent has on file with the school,” USD497 Spokeswoman Julie Boyle said.

   Though the district learned of the incident at 3 p.m., Brungardt decided to send out the message at 5 p.m.

   “It was a Friday afternoon,” Dr. Brungardt said. “Most parents would not be home at that time of the afternoon, so we decided to send it out at a time when most parents would be at home after work. Delaying the phone call until 5 p.m. would have been a more effective use of the system.”

   However, for the SchoolMessenger system to be effective, Boyle stressed the importance of making sure students and parents had phone numbers on file with the school in order to assure that students receive the phone call. In a poll conducted by the Budget, 68 students out of 119 answered that they did not receive a phone call (see page 1).

   “The SchoolMessenger system makes four attempts to deliver a call to the numbers on file with the school,” Boyle said. “In some cases, a phone number may be busy during all four attempts and in other cases, there may be no answer.”

   Under Kansas state law, the student will have a disciplinary hearing with a maximum suspension of up to one year. Brungardt stated this is what the school will ultimately recommend.