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Beaufort County Schools will return amnesty boxes it intended to use this school year, Superintendent Dr. Matthew Cheeseman confirmed in an email to the Daily News. 

The school district purchased enough boxes to have one at each school. 

Following an announcement by Sheriff Scott Hammonds to use the boxes for gun collection, the school district backpedaled on the idea. Hammonds initially told the Daily News in August that amnesty boxes would give students a final chance to hand over items they shouldn’t bring to school like guns, pocket knives, drugs and vapes. 

Students who took advantage of the boxes would not have been disciplined, because Hammonds wanted to build students’ trust. 

Beaufort County Schools quickly clarified Hammonds’ statements saying the district stands by its zero tolerance policy on weapons brought to school campuses. Should a student bring a weapon to campus, it is at the discretion of their principal to either suspend them for 365 days or expel them depending on the severity of the situation. Cheeseman said the boxes would still be used for vapes and pocket knives; however, the district has decided to return the boxes all together. 

Cheeseman said Beaufort County Schools is working with Amazon to return the boxes and receive a full refund at no cost to the county. Though the Daily News asked multiple times how much the boxes cost, Cheeseman did not say by press time. 

In his email to the Daily News, Cheeseman wrote, “Yes, the district purchased and received the amnesty boxes (one per campus).  Upon learning of the Sheriff’s announcement to potentially use them for gun collection, the Board of Education decided not to unpack the amnesty boxes and return them. The district is working with Amazon and anticipates a full refund; no cost to the district.”