Beeson student found with knife

    A male second-grade student at Beeson Elementary School was found with a knife Wednesday afternoon, the second instance at the school in two weeks involving a student with a weapon.
    Seth Eckelman, public information officer for USD 443, said the student was found with a knife with "a blade of significant length."
    The blade was over three inches long, which constitutes a weapon under state statute.
    The student, whose name was not released as he was a minor, will be suspended for up to 10 days pending a hearing.
    Eckelman said early interviews with the student showed that although he was aware the knife was in his backpack, it was not wielded at any other student, and he did not "plan to use it on his friends."
    "It did not leave his bag," Eckelman said.
    The student also did not have a history of misbehavior in the school.
    Two weeks ago, a female third-grader at Beeson was found with an air gun in her backpack. She was subsequently suspended for one day. Officials said it appeared she wasn't aware the air gun was in her backpack.
    Eckelman said that despite two instances at the same school in two weeks, such happenings are relatively rare in elementary school.
    "It's usually zero to nil," he said.
    If anything, Eckelman said, the two instances showed the training school employees underwent was paying off. Everything from spotting the signs of danger to running drills was repeated ad nauseam, Eckelman said, so this simply showed the staff was paying attention.
    "Is Beeson a dangerous school?" he said. "Probably not."