It happened towards the end of the school day Monday. Two students reported to the principal that a fifth grade girl had brought a marijuana treat to school and she and a group of her 10-year-old friends were nibbling at it in the schoolyard.
"I have nothing to compare it to; I was shocked, I was very surprised, it's never happened here before," said Stoneman Elementary Principal Donna Marshall.
Police say the marijuana treat came from an Oakland pot dispensary, and was in the possession of an 18-year-old woman who is the fifth grader's half sister. When it fell out of the young woman's purse, the 10-year-old found it and knew what it was through eaves dropping.
"We do think there have probably been some conversations that the 18-year-old had with some friends while talking on her cellular phone relative to marijuana" said Pittsburg Police Lt. Brian Addington.
Police say there probably will be no charges against the half sister since she appears to have a medical marijuana card. As for the eight students who either ate the pot treat, or knew about it but failed to tell a school official, there will be consequences because of a zero tolerance program when it comes to drugs on campus.
"It gets down to things like whether you took it, whether you passed it around etc, and there is different levels of disciplinary action and we also have to take into account the age of these students who are elementary age, it's different then if it's a high school student who clearly knows right from wrong," said Pittsburg School Dist. Supt. Dr. Barbara Wilson.
Parents were stunned when they were told what had happened.
"How old are these kids? What grade?" asked parent Nicole Ramos.
"Fifth grade," said ABC7's Terry McSweeney.
"Oh my god, I've heard about it at other schools far away - Oak Grove places like that, but I didn't know anything about this," said Ramos.
For other parents the pot on campus will mean a drug talk at home.
""I'll just try to discuss with him the fact that he shouldn't do drugs and to not be influenced by other kids - to be your own leader," said parent Keeli Harris.
The kids who ingested marijuana were checked out by paramedics and they are all okay.
The school is planning to hold an assembly regarding the incident.
