A Finegan Elementary School student shocked themselves with a Taser on Friday. Now, Duval County Public Schools is launching an investigation into whether the student got that weapon at school.
We’ve learned school leaders are working to clarify their policy on weapons at school and that this incident could spark a policy overhaul.
District leaders tell Action News Jax there may not be a clear policy banning Tasers on campus and this incident sheds a light on that concern.
“Wow, I’m in shock,” said Teresa Delue, a mother of two after learning about the incident. “What is a Taser doing at the school and why was it accessible?”
That's just one question district leaders are looking into. We got a statement from DCPS Monday afternoon. It says a parent of that Finegan Elementary student said the child discharged the Taser at home last Friday and will be OK.
“This is a new question for us. We've never had the issue of Tasers come up before,” said school board member Scott Shine.
Shine could not answer our questions about exactly where the child found the Taser or who owns the weapon since this is an active investigation. But Shine did say he met with other district leaders Monday about this.
“It appears we don't have a clear policy,” Shine said.
Action News Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said state law bans non-lethal weapons such as a Tasers on school grounds. Existing statutes could help set clearer ground rules for Duval schools moving forward.
“What I'm going to do is get with the superintendent and balance of the board and develop a policy that specifically says you can’t bring this type of weapon into a school,” Shine said.
School board officials said Superintendent Nikolai Vitti is on board with changing this policy. Meanwhile, local law enforcement agencies are working with the district in this investigation.