A Mehlville School District employee last week served a three-day suspension for what Superintendent Terry Noble termed “personal use of district equipment.”

Besides the suspension, the employee will remain on probation until the end of the employee’s contract. Furthermore, the employee has reimbursed the district $125, “which covered the hours of work involved and the actual cost for the district’s equipment,” Noble said.

The superintendent declined to identify the employee or provide specifics of the Sept. 25 incident, saying such information is considered a closed record under both district policy and state law.

Noting that he’s made his own mistakes, Noble said, “I’m trying to mentor some of our leaders now … I’m trying to model good decision-making in front of them and I’m asking others to model that for all of our staff. It’s actually a priority of ours right now to do that. That’s how we’re responding. We don’t try to treat any incident in isolation. We try to learn from it and make it a (lesson) for all of us.”