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PHOENIX - The family of a teenage skeet shooter is complaining that school officials overreacted by suspending the girl for inadvertently leaving two unopened boxes of shotgun shells in her car when she drove to school.

High school senior Kim Peters said she fears the punishment will cloud her permanent record as she applies to colleges. Her family is fighting the Dysart Unified School District to get the offense, possession of a "dangerous instrument," expunged.

Administrators stand by their decision and rejected the family's first appeal.

"We can never comment on a specific situation with a student (due to privacy laws), but what I can say is that whenever we are dealing with any infraction . . . our duties involve keeping students in a safe and secure environment," Dysart Superintendent Gail Pletnick said.

Peters, 17, called her own actions "careless" but said she doesn't feel the punishment fits the crime.

Peters, who has won several skeet-shooting trophies, said her 12-hour-a-week practice schedule got so hectic that she forgot to take the ammunition out of her vehicle as she was running late for school last week. There was no gun.

Willow Canyon High School administrators disciplined Peters after a security guard noticed the shells in the back seat of Peters' car.

She is scheduled to return to school Tuesday.