JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A fourth grade student at Chaffee Trail Elementary School brought a gun to school on Monday.
Duval County Public School officials confirmed the incident took place at the school on Sam Caruso Way on the Westside.
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According to a letter from the school that a parent shared with News4Jax, several students reported to school officials that they thought a classmate had a weapon on campus.
"We immediately isolated the classroom and alerted the police," the letter said. "A search did uncover a weapon that was removed. No students were threatened or harmed in this incident."
The student could be expelled for the incident, the letter said.
News4Jax spoke to one of the students from that fourth grade classroom, who said the incident took place just before lunch. The parent of that student, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was frustrated to learn of the incident in the letter, instead of receiving a phone call as soon as it happened.
"So when I was talking to the school, I said, 'So I got a letter, what had happened if my kid got shot? I get an email? I'm sorry this is unacceptable. This is my kids' lives,'" the parent said. "I have a 5 year old that goes to the same school and got the same letter."
The fourth grade student said all 22 students in the class were moved to another classroom and then outside, but they were only told there was "an emergency situation."
The parent said now her child doesn't want to go back to school.
"He was upset. He doesn't want to go to school tomorrow," the parent said. "I just don't understand. This is fourth grade classroom, (an) elementary school. Me and my husband should have been contacted."
The parent said she thinks the school system needs a better method of communicating with parents when there's an emergency.
"I know there is an alert system out there," she said. "It could have came through text, email, whatever. But the school is shrugging this thing off."
The school board said protocol for Duval County Schools in the event of an emergency is communicate by letter or phone/voicemail. It's up to the school to decide.
School board officials said it's important for parents to make sure their child's school has up-to-date contact information for the family.