ST. PAUL — St. Paul public schools are grappling with discipline policies after recent fights and an incident in which a student brought a loaded gun to school.

Last week, authorities said, a 16-year-old boy brought a .22-caliber handgun to Harding High School. The gun was wrapped in a T-shirt and stuffed in the student’s backpack. The teen told police he brought the gun to protect himself from gang members.

In recent days, there were also six fights at Como High School, and a stun gun was used on a student at St. Paul Central High School.

Over the last four years, the district has tried to curtail suspensions to reduce racial disparities in discipline.