EMMAUS, Pa. — An Emmaus High School student's use of pepper spray in the cafeteria made East Penn School District the first in the Lehigh Valley to use a notification required by law to alert parents and teachers of school weapon incidents.
East Penn issued a statement notifying parents, guardians and teachers near the end of the school day Wednesday "of an incident that occurred today on the campus of Emmaus High School."
About 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, "a situation involving two students took place in the cafeteria and one student discharged pepper spray."East Penn School District statement
The statement said that about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, "a situation involving two students took place in the cafeteria and one student discharged pepper spray.
"Emergency medical services and police were immediately contacted and responded as needed."
A video obtained by LehighValleyNews.com of the incident shows one female student approaching another female student in the upper part of the cafeteria.
A student is heard saying "come near me" before pepper spraying the other student, who later yells to approaching staff "I just got pepper sprayed."
State Senate Bill 246, introduced by state Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Bucks/Lehigh, was passed this fall and officially went into effect this month, Coleman said.
The bill doesn't explicitly define pepper spray as a weapon, but state legislation regarding possession of weapons on school property defines a weapon as including but not limited to "any knife, cutting instrument, cutting tool, nun-chuck stick, firearm, shotgun, rifle and any other tool, instrument or implement capable of inflicting serious bodily injury."
Following the code
Under East Penn's Code of Student Conduct Offenses, the incident falls under a level six: "Misconduct involving the possession of a weapon or facsimile thereof to school or school-sponsored event."
"These actions are criminal and will always require administrative action which may result in the immediate removal of the student from school and the intervention of law enforcement officials," the code says.
Other disciplinary actions can include an immediate 10-day suspension, referral to the superintendent and possible expulsion, and referral to outside agencies.
For level six offenses, the code of conduct procedures for administration include the following: immediate intervention by staff members, prevention of the continuance of the conduct and immediate notification to supervisors and the principal of the building, verification of the offense by the principal/assistant principal, who is also to submit a written report to the assistant superintendent and superintendent within 24 hours.
The code of conduct also says, "the superintendent will share with the school board."
'Knowledge to parents is powerful'
Coleman praised the district for its compliance with the new law and three-hour turnaround informing the community of the incident.
"That knowledge to parents is powerful," Coleman told LehighValleyNews.com.
"I think an informed community is a powerful community, and I think when it comes to education, this kind of legislation goes a long way in building the trust toward schools and parents."
"Everyone's busy in their daily lives, but when they're being notified about this, maybe they start to think, 'What's actually going on here?' and maybe have a bigger discussion."State Sen. Jarrett Coleman
Coleman said he hopes the notification sparks conversations between parents and guardians and their students.
"Everyone's busy in their daily lives, but when they're being notified about this, maybe they start to think, 'What's actually going on here?' and maybe have a bigger discussion," Coleman said.
"If their children are bringing pepper spray, why do kids feel they need to bring pepper spray to school? Why do they feel unsafe in school?
"Is there a pattern of bullying, or anything like that? Those are all questions that, hopefully, the community starts to ask in these situations."
