IBERVILLE - Following the stabbing of a 15-year-old student at White Castle High School, the Iberville sheriff's office and school board are working together to ensure this does not happen again.

Iberville Sheriff Brett Stassi said investigators learned that the stabbing was a response to a previous altercation, and he wishes it had been handled differently.

"A couple of weeks earlier, there was an incident in the band room where he was poked with a drumstick. The issue with that is you can't bring a knife to a drumstick incident," Stassi said.

Iberville Superintendent Louis Voiron said authorities had figured out how the student managed to get the knife past the metal detectors.

"He had the pocket knife tucked inside the shorts of his pants, and the way he maneuvered past the metal detector, it didn't register," Voiron said.

Stassi said the student poked with the drumstick should have alerted an adult before it escalated to this point.

"He should've informed the school what happened. You don't handle these matters on your own," he said.

The injured student has since been released from the hospital, and the accused, 17-year-old Cur'eon Thomas, has been arrested for both the stabbing and for possessing the weapon on campus.

18th JDC District Attorney Tony Clayton noted that with the aggravated battery charge Thomas faces, he could potentially receive a minimum sentence of 10 years. But it didn't have to happen that way.

"When kids are unable to manage conflicts like that, schools will have to improve their efforts in having some mediation or some form of parental involvement or even school administrators who can help address these conflicts that these kids are experiencing," Clayton said.

Voiron said school authorities have been in discussions with the sheriff's office as recently as yesterday regarding what changes are needed.

"They will be considering improved equipment, and we are also going to restrict access at all entrances that do not have a school resource officer or a deputy present when students arrive," he said.