Third-grader suspended for gun key chain
A third-grader was suspended from school for possessing this key chain.
His mother plans to appeal a punishment she calls
By Jeff Decker
News-Chronicle
Just 15 minutes after school began at Helen
Keller Elementary School Friday, an 8-year old student was sent to the office for showing students his key chain shaped like a gun.
The third-grader was suspended for a day in a decision Green Bay Public Schools Superintendent Tom Joynt said would "emphasize the importance of safety."
"The student was suspended for having a replica of a gun," Joynt said. School district policy states, "The possession of facsimile firearms is also prohibited (including) any replica, toy, starter pistol or other object that bears a reasonable resemblance to, or can be perceived to be, an actual firearm."
The child's mother said she plans to appeal the ruling and have it removed from her son's record.
"I don't think this falls into that category," she said. "It's a key chain. I think it's a little extreme. How far will this policy go? "I think they just should have taken it away from him with a warning to not bring it back before suspending him."
The key chain, bought in a restaurant vending machine, has a plastic toy gun that measures 1 3/8 inches across. Her son was allegedly showing it to other students when a few of those students brought it to the attention of the classroom's teacher, who then brought the student to the office of Principal Sherilyn Moon.
"I don't talk about another student to anyone other than that student's parents," Moon said when she declined to comment. "I don't think that's right."
Joynt said he supported the decision to suspend the student. "We did talk with the principal, and the principal indicated that she understood that the gun unto itself did not present a dangerous situation," he said.
Though they do not use the term "zero tolerance," Joynt said, "Concern about safety in schools has been escalating, but it would be wrong to say these things were not addressed in the past.
"If an individual child brought a replica of a gun that had no moving parts, it could be very frightening," Joynt said. "We take a pretty strong stance in terms of replicas." He added that the student could have been expelled "and the police could have been called."
Kevin Flogel, a music teacher at Wilder Elementary school, said teachers are told to report any incident involving anything resembling a weapon, though he's never done so himself.
"I know a lot of teachers will take away a toy if they see it, and keep it until the end of the day, and say 'Don't bring this back to school,'" he said. "It depends, I think, on the principal and how big a stand they want to make on it."
He added that since the recent increase in school shootings, security measures have increased, such as locking nearly all outside doors to schools.
"It seems like since those incidents have happened we have more safety plans," Flogel said. "Now it's not just fire drills and tornado drills, it's bomb threats and hostage situations."
A third-grader was suspended from school for possessing this key chain.
His mother plans to appeal a punishment she calls
By Jeff Decker
News-Chronicle
Just 15 minutes after school began at Helen
Keller Elementary School Friday, an 8-year old student was sent to the office for showing students his key chain shaped like a gun.
The third-grader was suspended for a day in a decision Green Bay Public Schools Superintendent Tom Joynt said would "emphasize the importance of safety."
"The student was suspended for having a replica of a gun," Joynt said. School district policy states, "The possession of facsimile firearms is also prohibited (including) any replica, toy, starter pistol or other object that bears a reasonable resemblance to, or can be perceived to be, an actual firearm."
The child's mother said she plans to appeal the ruling and have it removed from her son's record.
"I don't think this falls into that category," she said. "It's a key chain. I think it's a little extreme. How far will this policy go? "I think they just should have taken it away from him with a warning to not bring it back before suspending him."
The key chain, bought in a restaurant vending machine, has a plastic toy gun that measures 1 3/8 inches across. Her son was allegedly showing it to other students when a few of those students brought it to the attention of the classroom's teacher, who then brought the student to the office of Principal Sherilyn Moon.
"I don't talk about another student to anyone other than that student's parents," Moon said when she declined to comment. "I don't think that's right."
Joynt said he supported the decision to suspend the student. "We did talk with the principal, and the principal indicated that she understood that the gun unto itself did not present a dangerous situation," he said.
Though they do not use the term "zero tolerance," Joynt said, "Concern about safety in schools has been escalating, but it would be wrong to say these things were not addressed in the past.
"If an individual child brought a replica of a gun that had no moving parts, it could be very frightening," Joynt said. "We take a pretty strong stance in terms of replicas." He added that the student could have been expelled "and the police could have been called."
Kevin Flogel, a music teacher at Wilder Elementary school, said teachers are told to report any incident involving anything resembling a weapon, though he's never done so himself.
"I know a lot of teachers will take away a toy if they see it, and keep it until the end of the day, and say 'Don't bring this back to school,'" he said. "It depends, I think, on the principal and how big a stand they want to make on it."
He added that since the recent increase in school shootings, security measures have increased, such as locking nearly all outside doors to schools.
"It seems like since those incidents have happened we have more safety plans," Flogel said. "Now it's not just fire drills and tornado drills, it's bomb threats and hostage situations."
