First-Grader With Camp Knife Back in School

Board shortens punishment from 45 days to 3
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 14, 2009 12:14 PM CDT
First-Grader With Camp Knife Back in School
Debbie Christie, right, mother of Zachary Christie, 6, not pictured, and her fiance Lee Irving, left, attend a Christina School District board meeting yesterday.   (AP Photo)

The Delaware first-grader suspended for bringing a camping knife to school is welcome to return after the school board amended its zero-tolerance policy. Zachary Christie was to spend 45 days at an alternative school; now, kindergarten and 1st-grade students with a “dangerous instrument”—a blade less than 3 inches—face a 3-to-5-day suspension and counseling. “We need to recognize the cognitive level of these kids,” a school board member tells the News Journal.

“We need to provide a little leeway,” the member continues. An expert says boards often arrive at these draconian policies as a way to eliminate discrimination, but it doesn’t make the situation any less bizarre. “They're scared of opening themselves up to a lawsuit so they turn to these one-size-fits-all policies,” he says. “But unfortunately that leads to some crazy kind of decisions and some strange and odd outcomes.” (More Delaware stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X