A New Jersey high school announced to parents Friday that it’s clarifying a weapons policy in the student handbook that a New Jersey firearms organization threatened to sue the school district over.
In an e-mail to parents, Craig Wigley, superintendent of Lacey Township High School, wrote: “Representatives of the student body and Mr. Brandis, high school principal, have brought to my attention concerns regarding language contained in the high school handbook.”
According to the student handbook, students are not allowed to be in possession of any sort of weapons even if they are off school grounds.
Wigley went on to say, “There has been confusion regarding the intent of this language. Please be rest assured that we are in the process of clarifying this language in a manner that would be consistent with district Policy 5611.”
Wigley, however, doubled down against social media claims that the high school disciplined any student in relation to Policy 5611, stating that “no rights were violated and no student(s) has / have been disciplined/suspended under Policy 5611.” (RELATED: NJ Firearms Org Threatens Lawsuit Over School’s Off-Campus Weapon’s Policy)
He later wrote, “The recent rumors and social media posts are not related to Policy 5611 as no student has been disciplined for violating Policy 5611.”
Scott Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, the organization whose lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to the school over the policy, is wary over the Superintendent Wigley’s announcement about the policy changes.
“The Superintendent is being disingenuous and misdirecting by pointing to a different policy than the one at issue, and then claiming there was no violation of the different policy,” Bach told The Daily Caller in a statement. “He should just be honest and admit that the policy at issue was problematic. That policy has now been entirely rewritten, which itself is an acknowledgment that it was problematic, and our counsel is currently reviewing it.”
The Lacey Township student handbook issue came to the national forefront just days after students all over the country participated in a national walkout advocating for gun control in the wake of February’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.
The Lacy Township community is expected to convene Monday night to discuss the matter further at a scheduled public meeting.
