Teacher brought gun to school, is cleared

SANFORD, Fla., July 21 (UPI) -- Prosecutors have dropped charges against a Sanford, Fla., teacher who was arrested for bringing a gun onto school property.

Michelle McGhee, 56, admitted the snub-nosed .38-caliber revolver was hers after a Heathrow Elementary School secretary found the item and McGee's cell phone near the school's bus ramp, The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported Monday.

McGhee's lawyer, Robert Fisher, said his client has a concealed weapons permit and had brought the gun along with her to work inadvertently. He said she had left the weapon near her school items the night before the incident and accidentally grabbed the gun along with the other stuff when she left the next morning.

Fisher said the gun and cell phone had apparently fallen off McGee's cart as she was taking her teaching items inside.

"Looked like clearly it was an accident," said Fisher. "She's not a danger to anybody."

Prosecutors dropped charges of possessing a firearm on school property and culpable negligence, both misdemeanors, before the trial was set to begin Monday.

McGhee, who has been teaching for 25 years, was suspended by The Seminole County School Board after her arrest.