Posted on 09/20/2006 4:44:30 AM PDT by jmq
First-Grader Suspended Over Plastic Squirt Gun School District Says Policy Prohibits Exceptions
POSTED: 3:50 pm CDT September 19, 2006 UPDATED: 5:01 pm CDT September 19, 2006 Email This Story | Print This Story Sign Up for Breaking News Alerts KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A mother is angry that her first-grader was suspended from school over a plastic toy gun.
"I asked her, 'You're going to suspend my son for 10 days for this? He cannot harm a soul with this,'" said Danielle Womack, whose son, Tawann Caskey, was suspended from Milton Moore Elementary School.
KMBC's Natalie Moultrie reported that Tawann was suspended over a 2-inch plastic squirt gun.
"She told me it's a weapon, a little girl saw it and reported to a teacher that he had a weapon," Womack said.
According to Kansas City, Mo., School District policy, the squirt gun is a simulated weapon and a class IV, which is the most serious school offense. Moultrie reported that principals have no discretion in cases like Tawaan's. It is an automatic 10-day suspension.
"We ask our principals for safety of students and staff, and we do follow the code of conduct and do not give exceptions to Class IV offenses. We take it very seriously," the school district's Phyllis Budesheim said.
Moultrie reported that the incident will stay on Tawann's school record. But Womack said her son does not understand why he's not in school.
"I think this could have been resolved in a different way. It's wrong to bring it school, but come on, he's 6 years old. This would not hurt a soul," Womack said.
The school district said it is all policy -- one that the school told students and parents about at the start of the year.
"We regret that this happened. My feeling is that by not giving any exceptions, this young man will not bring a toy gun to school again," Budesheim said.
The school district said that the incident should be a reminder to parents to check their children's backpacks before they go to school.
Moultrie reported that Womack is waiting to state her case before a school district hearing Wednesday morning.
We had a kindergartner suspended for 4 days for bringing a string popper to school in Racine, Wisconsin. They used the 'firearms and explosives' clause in the school code of conduct to decide that one.
Boys will be boys and girls will be girls....what's the problem other than a public school system expecting PC behavior from a child plus political knowledge....?
Most children have similar or the same last names as their parents ... there is some disconnect here - just can't put my finger on it ... ;-)
I was a middle school science teacher for 35 years . I always had a LOADED squirt gun in my desk for retaliation should I be confronted by a student with intent to wet . Nobody ever told me to take the NRA sticker off my door either . BTW , this was in the People's Repubnlic of Zoo Jersey . My common quote for teaching in the building was that I was " Surrounded by Idiots! "
Translation: "You're gonna brush this kid off on me for 10 day?? Whattaya expect me to do with him for 10 day!?"
Nope, they did it because some dolt codified as 'zero tolerance' policy under which squirt guns were 'simulated weapons' for which the sentence meeted out was a 10 day suspension.
Like the poster just after you said, 'zero tolerance = zero intelligence'.<<
It's worse than a lack of intellect... it is a lack of judgement literally. Policies are not laws and require judgement to ADMINISTRATE. Zero tolerance policies are a silly way opt out of judgement as a duty.
Fire the administrator, and hire a robot. It'd be cheaper and fairer.
DK
Wouldn't you love to send Phyllis Budesheim email praising her brave decision?
Yep, you are so right. They create the appearance of doing something, dare I say the illusion, and then when things go horribly wrong, they can shrug and say, "I had no choice - the rules didn't give any leeway" (I was only following orders - hmmm, where have I heard that before)...
Idiot. My feeling is that by suspending this first grader for 10 days, they've significantly decreased his chances of graduating from high school.
Exactly.
IT. IS. A. TOY. IT. IS. NOT. A. GUN.
The KC school district is run by a bunch of idiots. And I mean that literally, not figuratively. I live in the KC suburbs on the Kansas side. That school district has to be the most screwed up school district in the nation.
.... move on Ken.
I'm having a hard time finding specifics, but this spokesperson, Dr. Phyllis Budesheim, appears to be "Executive Director for School Leadership", whatever the heck that is.
I bet we could use less of it.
Couldn't find contact info on the school system site.
http://www.kcmsd.k12.mo.us/home.asp?b=8&id=1
Contacting her would probably be pretty useless, anyway. Going directly to the school board is typically the only way to get any traction, on things like this.
Exactly... everyone's gotta have their PC labels. Sadly, even some here believe he should be suspended for 10 days because *gasp* his last name is different than his moms (and does sound kinda ethnic donchayaknow).
What a world what a world.
That's it continue to appologize to the idiotic PC left. A class IV offense? Wrong to bring the piece of plastic to school? Calling the water pistol a "weapon"? Defend them if you want but I will never accept such behavior from school officials.
Here we go:
School Leadership
Room 1006
418-7402/7416
I bet that'll get you a lower-level drone who reports to Phyllis.
This is nothing. A friend of mine had her daughter suspended from school for pointing an oak leaf at another kid on the playground and making sounds simulating the firing of a gun. One week under zero tolerance rules.
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