A child that brought marijuana to school to ask the teacher for help getting his father to stop smoking it has been transferred to an alternative program at John Yeates Middle School, a schools spokeswoman said.

Police responded to Driver Elementary School on Feb. 22 after the fifth-grader was allegedly found with the drug. When asked about the marijuana, the boy told police he found it in his father’s truck and brought it to school to show his teacher because he wanted his father to stop smoking marijuana, according to a version of the story provided earlier by Suffolk Public Schools spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw.

But more information emerged at the hearing, Bradshaw said. According to the school’s investigation, the boy brought the drug to school, showed it to a couple students, asked if they wanted any and then hid it in the cafeteria.

One of the students later told a teacher, and the drug was retrieved and brought with the boy to the office, where a police officer was called to interview him, Bradshaw said.

The recommendation for an expulsion hearing was policy, school administrators have said. However, at the hearing, the child was not expelled but was transferred to the alternative program.

The parents will have five days to appeal the decision after they receive an official letter in the mail, which will be sent Thursday, Suffolk Public Schools spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect additional information provided the day of publication.