A student at

Fayette County Alternative School was arrested Monday morning for bringing

a weapon to school, authorities said.

William Nathan

Stodghill, 19, was charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds,

according to jail records. The weapon, a pocketknife, was found as the

student walked through a metal detector upon entering school, said Wayne

Robinson, the director of secondary school operations for Fayette County

Schools.

Stodghill told

school officials that he accidentally brought the weapon to school. But

he faces a felony charge because the blade was longer than two inches,

Robinson said.

"It's

very unfortunate, but you can't bring weapons within 1,000 feet of school

board property," Robinson said, adding that the student didn't use

the knife to threaten anyone.

Stodghill,

a senior, was suspended from school. He can answer the charges at a disciplinary

tribunal hearing in the near future unless he chooses to accept the disciplinary

recommendations from school personnel.

The discipline

could turn out to be permanent expulsion from school, Robinson explained.

"We have

to keep the school safe for students to attend," Robinson said.