Knife gets youngster suspended

Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004 | 8:54 a.m.

A Henderson fourth grader has been suspended after showing a pocket knife to classmates on the bus ride to school, Clark County School District officials said Wednesday.

The boy, a student at Twitchell Elementary School on Desert Shadow Trail, has been suspended, said Carolyn Reedom, assistant superintendent of the district's southeast region.

"We take this very seriously," Reedom said.

A bus driver noticed the boy showing off the knife Monday, took it away and brought the boy to the principal's office, Reedom said.

"(The bus driver) did exactly what he was trained to do," Reedom said.

A letter from Twitchell Principal Susan Smith went home to parents Wednesday.

"The consequences are mandatory suspension and possible expulsion from school," Smith said in the letter. "The administration is requesting that parents be vigilant and aware in monitoring what children bring to school."

School police investigated the situation and determined the boy had gotten the knife at home and was not intending to hurt anyone, Reedom said.

"The lesson here is that zero tolerance means zero tolerance, even if no harm was intended," Reedom said. "We need parents to check check their children's bags and talk to their children about potentially dangerous items."

Another Twitchell student was expelled in October after bringing his mother's gun to school and pulling it out of backpack to show to friends -- also on the school bus.