Student suspended for inadvertently bringing a knife to Franklin junior high

A student at Franklin Junior High School was suspended from school for seven days for inadvertently bringing a knife onto school grounds Wednesday.

Willy Severson, Franklin Junior High School principal, said the student accidentally left the knife in his jacket after using it for fishing this past weekend. He hadn't worn the jacket since the weekend because of the warm weather, and forgot he had the knife in his pocket, Severson said.

A teacher suspected the student was carrying the knife, and when the student was searched a small, 2.5-inch folding knife was found in his coat pocket.

The school and Brainerd police also investigated rumors about the boy's intent with the knife, and found them all to be unfounded.

"There was no malicious intent," Severson said.

Severson said when his office gets a tip like that officials take it seriously and thoroughly investigate, and in this case he said he was confident the student made a mistake in bringing the knife to the school.

"The young man has no history of disruptive behavior and there was no intent to cause harm or injury," he said. "It was an unintentional mistake."

Severson said the suspension followed the school district's weapons and assault policy. Under that policy, a student in violation can be suspended up to 10 days -- at the school's discretion -- and the police are notified about the incident.