Las Vegas Sun

February 13, 2012

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Sun editorial:

No common sense

Zero-tolerance policies in the schools lead to ridiculous punishments and should be changed

Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

Zachary Christie, a Delaware 6-year-old, was so excited about joining the Cub Scouts this year that he brought a camping utensil with him to school to eat lunch. When administrators saw the utensil, which can be used as a fork, spoon or knife, they suspended Zachary for bringing a “weapon” to school.

The Christina School District, where Zachary is a student, has a zero-tolerance policy, so he was suspended and ordered to attend reform school for 45 days.

Zachary’s family has rightly been fighting the punishment. More than 37,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the school board to overturn the punishment. More than 150 people showed up at a school board meeting Tuesday night. Before anyone spoke, the board voted to modify its policy, softening the punishments for kindergarten and first grade students. Zachary will be allowed to return to school.

Still, school officials have defended the policy, noting that any weapon on campus can be dangerous. School policy, based on the state’s zero-tolerance law, calls for a student caught with a knife to either be expelled or sent to reform school, regardless of whether the student had any ill intent.

Last year a fifth grade girl in the same school district faced expulsion because her grandmother sent her to school with a cake and a knife to cut it. After her teacher used the knife to cut the cake, she sent the girl to the principal’s office. The school board overturned the expulsion because it said the girl never technically possessed the knife.

This isn’t a situation limited to Delaware. Across the country the one-size-fits-all approach has created a surge of suspensions. The New York Times reported that recent studies show that in the 2006-07 school year, 10 percent of students in Baltimore and 40 percent of fourth graders in Milwaukee were suspended, mostly for behavior issues.

The zero-tolerance polices show students that the punishment does not fit the alleged crime, and that is the wrong lesson to teach. States and schools should rework these policies to restore common sense.

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