Nonstopdrivel
15 years ago

Delaware 1st grader has 45-day suspension lifted
 

By BEN NUCKOLS, Associated Press Writer Ben Nuckols, Associated Press Writer 1 min ago

[img_r]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091014/capt.70dc4023b9874e478687cd0890d1601d.zero_tolerance_boy_desr109.jpg?x=247&y=345&q=85&sig=d744X4fyKUt06fNIj9puzA--[/img_r]BEAR, Del. A Delaware first-grader who was facing 45 days in an alternative school as punishment for taking his favorite camping utensil to school can return to class after the school board made a hasty change granting him a reprieve.

The seven-member Christina School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to reduce the punishment for kindergartners and first-graders who take weapons to school or commit violent offenses to a suspension ranging from three to five days.

Zachary Christie, 6, had faced 45 days in an alternative school for troublemakers after he took the utensil a combination folding knife, fork and spoon to school to eat lunch last month. Now, he could return Wednesday.

"I want to get him back as soon as possible. I want to put this behind him as soon as possible," said Debbie Christie, Zachary's mother. "But I also want him to know that he has a voice, and when things are not right, he can stand up and speak out against them."

A spokeswoman for the school district said more changes to the school system's code of conduct were possible in the coming months.

The punishment given to Zachary was one of several in recent years that have prompted national debate on whether schools have gone too far with zero-tolerance policies.

It was not the first such case in the Christina School District, Delaware's largest with more than 17,000 students, which includes parts of the city of Wilmington and its suburbs. Last year, a fifth-grade girl was ordered expelled after she brought a birthday cake to school and a serrated knife to cut it with.

The expulsion was overturned, and it led to a state law that gave districts more flexibility on punishments. But that law applied only to conduct that triggers expulsions, not suspensions.

School board member John Mackenzie told The Associated Press before the meeting that he was surprised school officials did not use common sense and disregard the policy in Zachary's case. The need for common sense to prevail over the letter of the law was a recurring theme among the boy's supporters and school safety experts.

"When that common sense is missing, it sends a message of inconsistency to students, which actually creates a less safe environment," said Kenneth S. Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, a consulting firm. "People have to understand that assessing on a case-by-case basis doesn't automatically equate to being soft or unsafe."

Not everyone believed the school district was out of line.

Jill Kneisley, who runs the special education programs at Jennie Smith Elementary in Newark, said schools need to be vigilant about protecting students. If Zachary or another student had been hurt by the knife, she said, the district would have taken the blame.

"If we can't punish him, then what about kids that did bring (a weapon) for bad things?" Kneisley said. "There's more to the school's side than just us being mean and not taking this child's interests into account."

Several people spoke on Zachary's behalf, including some who said other students had been unjustly punished.

Dodi Hebert said her 13-year-old son, Kyle, was tormented throughout last year by a group of bullies who ultimately planted a knife on him. Kyle was ordered into the alternative school, but Hebert refused to send him there and home-schools him instead.

"You can't kick kids out of school for the kinds of things that are happening," Connie Merlet told the board. "This is a horrible thing to happen to our district, to be on the national news because you guys weren't paying attention."

(This version CORRECTS that the statements made on the school's need to protect students were made by special education teacher Jill Kneisley, not Jennifer Jankowski.)


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Packerchick
15 years ago
This is going way too far.
I am a woman and I love football.
Cheesey
15 years ago
I have been watching this case. I'm more shocked that these people actually decided to do the right thing!
I mean......they actually had to THINK to come up with the fact that the kid did nothing that deserved getting kicked out of school.
This "no tolerance" policy is STUPID. I remember a kid getting kicked out of school for bringing a 2 inch long plastic GI Joe gun to school.
I mean......how stupid is that? It in no way resembled a real gun, NO ONE would mistake it for a real gun. But "no tolerance" allows them to "not think" for themselves.
Another proof "political correctness" being a stupid idea.
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djcubez
15 years ago

This is going way too far.

"Packerchick" wrote:


I guess anything you can't bring on an airplane you can't take to school anymore?

The stupidest thing about this to me is that kids need to learn, they need to be in school.
Cheesey
15 years ago
It would be different if a kid brings an actual weapon to school. A kid brings what amounts to a camping implement used to eat with, and its OBVIOUS he didn't intend to use it to hurt anyone. And they want to nail the kid.
I'm glad that FINALLY some common sense prevailed.
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4PackGirl
15 years ago
the school hands out the rules/policies to every parent each year & we are required to read them with our kids & sign a paper stating we have done so.

instead of his mother saying her son has a voice & should use it, she should be taking responsiblity for allowing him to take something into school that wasn't supposed to be there.

accept responsibility or work at changing the policy - both the administration AND the parents.
Cheesey
15 years ago
Chances are the parents didn't know the kid took it to school.
Here's what SHOULD have happened in a world where common sense is "normal".
Zach brings his camping tool to school to eat with. Teacher sees it. Takes it away from Zach, tells him he can't bring it to school because it has a knife on it, then tells him he will get it back at the end of the school day. Then she tells him "If you bring it to school again, you will be expelled from school." Then said teacher calls up his parents and tells them what happened.
problem solved.
No need for "school boards", national news, or anything.
COMMON SENSE ends problem.
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djcubez
15 years ago

Chances are the parents didn't know the kid took it to school.
Here's what SHOULD have happened in a world where common sense is "normal".
Zach brings his camping tool to school to eat with. Teacher sees it. Takes it away from Zach, tells him he can't bring it to school because it has a knife on it, then tells him he will get it back at the end of the school day. Then she tells him "If you bring it to school again, you will be expelled from school." Then said teacher calls up his parents and tells them what happened.
problem solved.
No need for "school boards", national news, or anything.
COMMON SENSE ends problem.

"Cheesey" wrote:


That's the way my middle schools worked. I got sent home a few times for bad behavior but never suspended. I even kicked a kid in the head, although my mom defends me every time saying he was asking for it.
Cheesey
15 years ago
Dcube.....LOLOL!!!
Your Mom sounds like my neighbor's Mom. Little Donny would NEVER do ANYTHING wrong!
The kid was a BEAST! He would take tomatoes from my Mom's garden, and throw them at the house behind us. He would fill water balloons, then ring the doorbell on a house in our neighborhood (at night) then just as the door opened, he would throw the balloon........it would hit the screen door and EXPLODE on whoever opened the door! (I was with him when he did stuff........i was amazed at what this kid got away with) He would go to the Target store, and change price tags. He bought gas powered airplanes for a few bucks, then sell them at school for just under what they REALLY cost in the stores. He would take the yellow pages, call EVERY pizza and chicken delivery place in the area, and order food for the house right across the street from us. We would have the lights off, and the shade pulled down to where we could peek out and no one would see us. Then one by one, each delivery guy would pull up. It was summertime, and we could hear Mr. Ranowitz swearing louder and louder "I didn't order no damn pizza!!!!" It was funny.........but SOOO wrong!
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MontanaBob
15 years ago
Thanks to Columbine and 9-11 we have jumped on the "better safe than sorry" bandwagon. I don't disagree with the airline procedures at all.....try telling the crew you like to get off now because the guy next to you might or does have a weapon. Ain't gonna happen at 30,000 feet.

Schools, on the other hand, took the "zero tolerance" policy after Columbine and many administrators, etc. took that as the letter of the law. The hell with common sense and treating each case separately. If little first grade Johnny brought what that administrator considered a weapon, then by God Johnny was history in that school. Johnny's "weapon" was a plastic knife in his lunch to spread the cheese whiz on his crackers...........but it was a dangerous weapon to Mr. I'm in Charge.

Luckily, in many school districts, cooler heads have prevailed and common sense does exist and is used. There has to be some rules and consequences if the rules are broken, but look at the circumstances first. Schools are very vulnerable to intruders and weapons. Check your local schools sometime.....find a door away from the front office and see if you can get in. If it is locked, good for that school. If it is open, anyone could walk in probably unnoticed and lord knows what could happen. Even though this seems pretty dumb, schools should be locked up during the day.
As a teacher for 42 years I have seen parents with restraining orders against them try to get their kids in school, I have dealt with people that no one knew...they just wanted to "look around", and I had one guy try to get in our school while running from the police after committing an armed robbery.

But, we still need to use common sense in these situations like Zachary's.
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