ZeroIntelligence.net

School board expels student

Last week the Topeka Public Schools Board of Education voted 4-3 to reinstate a student who had been caught with a pocketknife. After reviewing the applicable laws they realized they were required to expel him and reversed their decision this week. Some of them are not happy about having their hands tied.

“I personally was feeling frustrated due to the fact our job here is to make sure that we are providing a quality education for all students, and if that student is not in school we cannot do that,” said board member Cheri Barrington, who opposed the expulsion last week. “It’s clear he made a mistake. The program that would have allowed him a second chance is not available, and that frustrates me.”
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School board member Carolyn Campbell said board members need discretion to do what is best for students depending on the circumstances.

“There are times when children make poor choices, and it is my hope that this young man will realize he had received a second chance, learn from his mistakes and his future will be positive,” she said at the meeting.

Campbell said she plans to study federal and state laws and contact lawmakers about her concerns. “My mission is to save, not to throw away, our children,” she said.

All may not be lost for the student. State law allows the Superintendent to modify the expulsion.

Superintendent Tony Sawyer said he will meet with the school principal, the student and his family. He said he wants to consider what is best for the student body and make sure the student learns from his mistake.

I would like to point out a glaring error at the end of the news article:

The federal Gun-Free Schools Act — first enacted in 1994 — requires expulsions of at least a year for students caught with a weapon at school and requires states to have their own laws.

The federal act absolutely does not require an expulsion for weapons. It is very specific to firearms. Not replicas, models, squirt guns or rubber band shooters either - the term has been defined to limit it to propellant powered guns capable of firing. The crazy laws that are getting kids expelled for scissors and pocketknives are crafted at the state level or lower. Although the bulk of these laws were created to comply with the federal act they go far above and beyond the federal requirements.