I disagree, mostly because the parent does not really know the purpose of the paper the child signed.
I think the parent needs to sit down with the officials and find out the intent. It's one thing if the purpose was to make sure the child understood the rules.
My concern is if the school thought this was a big enough issue to involve the police and child services- then the parents of all children involved, even as witnesses should have been made aware of and allowed to attend any questioning, or signing of any statements. With all the BS rules and laws now, parents have to be careful- some of these things can really get wild.
Like it or not... it's all the reactions on this thread that make these school resort to things like "zero tolerance" policies. You all want the school to take this really ~nuanced~ view of this situation, read everyone's intent, understand everything I have ever taught my child about knives, politics and oppression and injustice. "but the kid just brought the knife to school, he didn't threaten anyone, he goes to ~church~ and ~boy scouts~ fercryinoutloud, he's not one of them ~bad~ kids...." Unless of course, they're nine and mischievous, or trying to impress each other, or unless the kid keeps getting kicked in the nuts by some mean girl....
NO. Nine year olds shouldn't have knives at school, they decide. Not even the nice church goin' boy scouts of super patriot second amendment quotin' parents. Cut. Dry. No room for nuance.