[ri4dc]

I searched and did not see this posted on FR. This is an outrage and Ashley did nothing wrong here. Clearly this was a mistake that was easily rectified, but the actions taken by these officials are over the top. "suspended for the remainder for the school year, banned from campus and this month was charged with misdemeanor possession of a weapon on school grounds" These 'school officials' should be sued into bankruptcy for ruining this girl's future, IMHO.

[Red Badger]

Common sense is not a requirement to be an educator in todays world....

[pissant]

You mean even NC is full of politically correct f***** retards too?

[Gene Eric]

>> The athlete who takes college-level courses was suspended for the remainder for the school year.

The teachers should undergo the same scrutiny and be fired on the spot for any infraction regardless of how inconsequential.

[IAmNotAnAnimal]

Bookmarking...If my fellow Freepers can come up with name and numbers, I’ll blast it out to my contacts and personally start calling, but have to go to sleep in a few minutes.

[GladesGuru]

Under that state’s regs, the principal can determine the punishment. As this student is an athlete, is taking college level courses, and IS WHITE - the principal applied the Leveling Principle and is making sure she can not benefit from her G*d given talents.

Gotta make sure the outcomes are the same.

[tacticalogic]

Another youngster gets a much needed education in the reality of bureaucracy. She’ll remember this, for a long time to come.

[ryan71]

This is reason enough to stop ALL public education because most of its’ administrators are idiots.

[J Edgar]

“It’s just an honest mistake ... “

Honesty and today’s school administrators are two mutually exclusive entities. IMHO

[Nea Wood]

What a flipping outrage. She’s never been in trouble before, and they couldn’t give her the benefit of the doubt?

Sometimes I think I went to sleep and woke up in some kind of bizarro world.

[mamelukesabre]

A knife isn’t a weapon unless it’s 4 inches or longer. In some jurisdictions it’s 3 inches or longer. I doubt a little paring knife qualifies.

[IAmNotAnAnimal]

Time for action tommorow a.m.

Southern Lee High School - Sanford, NC
Phone: (919) 718-2400

Found 2 different websites, not sure who is the current principal, but will find out:

1) Bonnie Almond - balmond.sl@lee.k12.nc.us
2) Rob Dietrich - rdietrcih.sl@lee.k12.nc.us

Am also notifying my rolling thunder contact

This is definetly a FReeper cause

[Chickensoup]

Anyone who takes this kind of admistrative totalitarianism lying down is a fool. There are no more real schools, there is no more justice in this country. It is time to recognize it.

[latina4dubya]

both my boys carry knives in the pockets... so does their father... they start with Swiss Army knives and move up as they get older...

[Hotmetal]

I’ll call these fools.

[AAABEST]

ping

[my job]

bump ping

[goldstategop]

Its just ridiculous. In what world is a paring knife considered to be a weapon? The problem with “zero tolerance” is they take no account of the nature of the offense, whether there was an actual threat involved and the student’s record. Its not justice in my book to punish someone for a mistake any one could make.

[Mila]

Ridiculous!

WRAL.com

Ashley Smithwick, 17, of Sanford, was suspended from Southern Lee High School in October 2010 for after school personnel found a small, green paring knife in her lunchbox.

[coop71]

Update: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8851902/

She not currently under suspension at all, according to the school, and the paring knife wasn’t in a lunchbag, it was in her purse. Although, the lunchbag in question kind of looks like a purse. Albeit a very ugly one.

[backwoods-engineer]

The public school system MUST be destroyed for the good of the country.

I say again, it MUST be destroyed.