His mother plans to appeal a punishment she calls "extreme"

By Jeff Decker
News-Chronicle

Just 15 minutes after school began at Helen Keller Elementary School Friday, an 8-year old student was sent to the office for showing students his key chain shaped like a gun.

The third-grader was suspended for a day in a decision Green Bay Public Schools Superintendent Tom Joynt said would "emphasize the importance of safety."

"The student was suspended for having a replica of a gun," Joynt said. School district policy states, "The possession of facsimile firearms is also prohibited (including) any replica, toy, starter pistol or other object that bears a reasonable resemblance to, or can be perceived to be, an actual firearm."

The child's mother said she plans to appeal the ruling and have it removed from her son's record.

"I don't think this falls into that category," she said. "It's a key chain. I think it's a little extreme. How far will this policy go? "I think they just should have taken it away from him with a warning to not bring it back before suspending him."

The key chain, bought in a restaurant vending machine, has a plastic toy gun that measures 1 3/8 inches across. Her son was allegedly showing it to other students when a few of those students brought it to the attention of the classroom's teacher, who then brought the student to the office of Principal Cheryl Moon.

"I don't talk about another student to anyone other than that student's parents," Moon said when she declined to comment. "I don't think that's right."

Joynt said he supported the decision to suspend the student. "We did talk with the principal, and the principal indicated that she understood that the gun unto itself did not present a dangerous situation," he said.

Though they do not use the term "zero tolerance," Joynt said, "Concern about safety in schools has been escalating, but it would be wrong to say these things were not addressed in the past.

"If an individual child brought a replica of a gun that had no moving parts, it could be very frightening," Joynt said. "We take a pretty strong stance in terms of replicas." He added that the student could have been expelled "and the police could have been called."

Kevin Flogel, a music teacher at Wilder Elementary school, said teachers are told to report any incident involving anything resembling a weapon, though he's never done so himself.

"I know a lot of teachers will take away a toy if they see it, and keep it until the end of the day, and say 'Don't bring this back to school,'" he said. "It depends, I think, on the principal and how big a stand they want to make on it."

He added that since the recent increase in school shootings, security measures have increased, such as locking nearly all outside doors to schools.

"It seems like since those incidents have happened we have more safety plans," Flogel said. "Now it's not just fire drills and tornado drills, it's bomb threats and hostage situations."

There was another kid who was suspended because he had a gi joe plastic gun at school. Get this, it was less than half an inch long. For christs sake what the hell is going on. We would rather scar our students at an early age with that kind of punishment just to make a statement? What kind of public schools are we running?

There was also the case of two kids who were like 6 years old. The little girl asked the little boy to give her a kiss, he did. Not only was he suspended he was charged with sexual battery. My god, what a joke, your six you get your first kiss and you get charged with a sex crime? I think our school system and this church and state crap has gotten out of hand. I am all for safety but geesh, what a freakin joke when you start suspending and expelling kids for toys. Next, it is be barbie dolls, 'cause they represent whores.

I hate this countries moral ethics.

Thursday, September 28, 2000

A 10-inch novelty chain that dangled from Ashley Smith's Tweety bird wallet is costing her two weeks of school.

The 11-year-old sixth-grader was suspended Tuesday from Garrett Middle School for breaking the Cobb County School District's zero-tolerance weapons policy.

"It's only a little chain, and I don't think it can really hurt anyone," said Ashley, a Tweety fan who publishes her own Web site devoted to the cartoon character.

One critic says it's "zero-tolerance gone awry."

"They shouldn't have jumped to immediately suspend her," said Jerry Weber, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

Cobb school officials said the rules on weapons are clear --- no chains. And, they said, Ashley and her parents, Raymond and Carmen Smith, knew the rules. The school district lumps Ashley's Tweety bird chain into a category with pellet guns, ice picks and swords.

So Principal Eugene Wright handed down the maximum punishment after his assistant snapped the chain that connected the girl's wallet to her key rings. The sixth-grader will miss 10 days of class and won't get an appeal to the school board because it is a "short-term" suspension, said Tony Arasi, assistant superintendent.

Weber said the school district may be violating Ashley's rights to due process.

When the school year started, students were shown examples of items not allowed at school. But Ashley said she saw a thicker chain about 2 feet long. After the school showed her a much larger chain, "the student may have thought that something like a wallet chain is not in violation," Weber said.

In 1994, the ACLU successfully represented Atlanta Public Schools student Rose Marie Spearman, who was suspended and charged with criminal weapons possession. She had brought African tribal knives to school for extra credit on a project.

Wright, the principal, did not return a call seeking comment, but Arasi defended the suspension and the policy.

Ashley's parents agree weapons should be banned from school, but Raymond Smith said the suspension lacks "common sense."