Manning Junior High student suspended pending hearing on pellet gun incident

Posted

A 13-year-old boy accused by the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office of bringing a pellet gun to Manning Junior High School on Monday morning will be suspended until he can go before the school board for a hearing, according to Clarendon School District 2 Superintendent John Tindal.

“Because we receive federal funds, we are mandated to expel a person with a firearm under the Federal Gun-free School Act,” Tindal said. “We are required to expel them for 365 days. The superintendent has some authority to work within that, and I don’t know how this particular item, as a pellet gun, would classify.”

Tindal said a hearing would be conducted within 10 days.

“That will be a hearing before the school board,” Tindal said. “Before that time, I will gather as much of the facts as I can and gather the witnesses. But the student will not be allowed back on campus until the hearing has been conducted, and a decision has been made by the board of trustees.”