This one might bite back -- go Mary!
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/00/01/st010503.html
Track pistol affair called nightmare
The suspension of an 8-year-old in Powell Butte angers his mother and raises questions about a school's responsibility
Wednesday, January 5, 2000
By Gordon Gregory, Correspondent, The Oregonian
POWELL BUTTE -- Mary Jentzen says the Crook County School District left common sense behind when it suspended her 8-year-old son after he was caught playing with a track starter pistol he found at school.
"People need to know how out of control this has gotten," said Jentzen, owner of a sign business in Redmond. "It's a nightmare."
Gary Peterson, superintendent of the Crook County School District, concedes the district may have overreacted. But he said that in the wake of the shootings at Thurston and Columbine high schools, it is difficult to gauge how to deal with incidents involving anything that resembles a weapon. "Today, there's a pretty fine line between handling this appropriately and overreacting," he said.
Last year the Legislature passed new laws that require any student taking a weapon on a campus to be arrested, detained and brought before a judge before being released. School districts also are required to create policies to deal quickly with children who threaten other children. That could include immediate removal from class and psychological evaluation.
Peterson said that although neither law seems to directly apply to the Powell Butte case, the new mandates reflect the environment that schools operate in today.
"We're moving, probably pretty quickly, toward not much tolerance about these kinds of things," he said.
The episode that led to Bryce Jentzen's and another boy's suspension happened Dec. 3 at Powell Butte Elementary School during an after-school program run by the Crook County Parks and Recreation District.
Peterson said Bryce Jentzen and another third-grader went into a storage room to look for some toys and found two starter pistols in an unlocked basket.
Starter pistols are used to start track and cross country events. They are made to shoot blanks but could cause serious injury if fired directly at someone from close range.
Peterson said the day-care attendant walked in and found the boys playing with the pistols. He said one of the pistols may have been loaded. The boys may have pointed the pistols at the attendant, he said, but put them down when asked to do so.
The following Monday, Dec. 6, the boys were called into the principal's office and questioned about the incident. The next day, the boys' parents were told the two were suspended and would have to undergo psychological evaluation before they would be allowed to return to school.
One of the boys underwent the evaluation and was allowed to return. But Jentzen said she refused. She hired a lawyer and notified the district of her intention to fight the suspension.
Jentzen said although her son should not have played with the pistol, the school was partly to blame for leaving the guns unlocked in a room children were allowed to enter. She said the school district should be looking into its own policies and practices if officials think starter pistols are weapons.
"I just don't get it. They want to expel him, but they don't want to take any responsibility," she said.
Peterson agrees that the pistols should have been locked up. He said they have been stored in the same location for many years and used about once a year.
The district canceled an expulsion hearing set for Tuesday, and Mary Jentzen was told Monday night that her son could return, although the district is still considering some form of disciplinary action.
Jentzen said she does not want her son labeled as a gun-toting kid. "What I most want is for his record to be cleared," she said.
Jentzen said she would not return her son to Crook County schools because she no longer trusted the judgment of district officials. Her son is now enrolled in a private Christian school.
Her attorney, Max Merrill of Bend, said the district came to see that it was on shaky legal ground partly because these particular starter pistols cannot be defined as firearms under the law, and because the district left them within easy access to children. "They know they couldn't make it stick," he said.
-- 30 --
"psychological evaluation" ??? He a curious kid for Chrissake!
The Oregonian has a forum at: http://www.oregonlive.com/forums/townsquare/
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/00/01/st010503.html
Track pistol affair called nightmare
The suspension of an 8-year-old in Powell Butte angers his mother and raises questions about a school's responsibility
Wednesday, January 5, 2000
By Gordon Gregory, Correspondent, The Oregonian
POWELL BUTTE -- Mary Jentzen says the Crook County School District left common sense behind when it suspended her 8-year-old son after he was caught playing with a track starter pistol he found at school.
"People need to know how out of control this has gotten," said Jentzen, owner of a sign business in Redmond. "It's a nightmare."
Gary Peterson, superintendent of the Crook County School District, concedes the district may have overreacted. But he said that in the wake of the shootings at Thurston and Columbine high schools, it is difficult to gauge how to deal with incidents involving anything that resembles a weapon. "Today, there's a pretty fine line between handling this appropriately and overreacting," he said.
Last year the Legislature passed new laws that require any student taking a weapon on a campus to be arrested, detained and brought before a judge before being released. School districts also are required to create policies to deal quickly with children who threaten other children. That could include immediate removal from class and psychological evaluation.
Peterson said that although neither law seems to directly apply to the Powell Butte case, the new mandates reflect the environment that schools operate in today.
"We're moving, probably pretty quickly, toward not much tolerance about these kinds of things," he said.
The episode that led to Bryce Jentzen's and another boy's suspension happened Dec. 3 at Powell Butte Elementary School during an after-school program run by the Crook County Parks and Recreation District.
Peterson said Bryce Jentzen and another third-grader went into a storage room to look for some toys and found two starter pistols in an unlocked basket.
Starter pistols are used to start track and cross country events. They are made to shoot blanks but could cause serious injury if fired directly at someone from close range.
Peterson said the day-care attendant walked in and found the boys playing with the pistols. He said one of the pistols may have been loaded. The boys may have pointed the pistols at the attendant, he said, but put them down when asked to do so.
The following Monday, Dec. 6, the boys were called into the principal's office and questioned about the incident. The next day, the boys' parents were told the two were suspended and would have to undergo psychological evaluation before they would be allowed to return to school.
One of the boys underwent the evaluation and was allowed to return. But Jentzen said she refused. She hired a lawyer and notified the district of her intention to fight the suspension.
Jentzen said although her son should not have played with the pistol, the school was partly to blame for leaving the guns unlocked in a room children were allowed to enter. She said the school district should be looking into its own policies and practices if officials think starter pistols are weapons.
"I just don't get it. They want to expel him, but they don't want to take any responsibility," she said.
Peterson agrees that the pistols should have been locked up. He said they have been stored in the same location for many years and used about once a year.
The district canceled an expulsion hearing set for Tuesday, and Mary Jentzen was told Monday night that her son could return, although the district is still considering some form of disciplinary action.
Jentzen said she does not want her son labeled as a gun-toting kid. "What I most want is for his record to be cleared," she said.
Jentzen said she would not return her son to Crook County schools because she no longer trusted the judgment of district officials. Her son is now enrolled in a private Christian school.
Her attorney, Max Merrill of Bend, said the district came to see that it was on shaky legal ground partly because these particular starter pistols cannot be defined as firearms under the law, and because the district left them within easy access to children. "They know they couldn't make it stick," he said.
-- 30 --
"psychological evaluation" ??? He a curious kid for Chrissake!
The Oregonian has a forum at: http://www.oregonlive.com/forums/townsquare/
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
" couple of 4X4s, pen, gloves, airway. It was in my locked breifcase when the instructor asked if anyone had a knife he could borrow.