Rough Road Ahead for NY Eagle Scout (Pocketknife Suspension)

[velkly]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

Rough Road Ahead for New York Eagle Scout as School District Won't Budge on Pocketknife Suspension
Wednesday, October 14, 2009

By Joseph Abrams


ADVERTISEMENTAs a 17-year-old Eagle Scout continues to wait out a one-month suspension from his upstate New York high school for having a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car, the U.S. Military Academy says the missed school days could pose a big problem when it reviews his application.

Pressure is mounting on a Troy, N.Y., school board to overrule Matthew Whalen's suspension from Lansingburgh High School, which was issued because of a zero-tolerance policy that is facing increasing opposition from parents and education advocates.

Whalen, a senior, says he stocks his car with a sleeping bag, water, a ready-to-eat meal and the small knife, which was given to him by his grandfather, a police chief in a nearby town.

But Lansingburgh High has a zero-tolerance policy for weapons, and when school officials discovered that Whalen kept his knife locked in his car, he says, they suspended him for five days — and then tacked on an additional 15 after a hearing.

On Wednesday, West Point's director of admissions told Foxnews.com that Whalen's suspension alone wouldn't be a "show-stopper" and "didn't appear to be a big issue" for the youth, though it will appear on his record as the military academy considers his moral and ethical fiber.

"My concern would be, how does this impact on his academics?" said Col. Deborah McDonald, the academy's head of admissions. "Because 20 (school) days is a long time to be suspended."

But the Lansingburgh School District is not budging. A person reached at the home of a school board member referred all calls to the superintendent, who told a local newspaper he thinks the punishment was "appropriate and fair," and that it was necessary for the district to enforce its zero-tolerance policy evenly.

"Sometimes young people do things they may not see as serious," Superintendent George Goodwin told the Albany Times-Union. "We look at any possession of any type of knife as serious."

Yet the knife is not considered a weapon by the New York State Education Department — definitions and punishments are left up to local school boards to decide.

"Districts by law are given a great deal of discretion for the conditions they impose," said Jonathan Burman, spokesman for the Education Department.

"The discipline that's meted out ... [is] a matter of local discretion," he said, and "simply here if the school board decides to make a change in their policy it's a matter for them to decide."

Whalen's family says they've given up hope that their school district will rethink the penalty, even after a school board in Delaware reversed a similar decision Tuesday night, granting a reprieve to a 6-year-old first-grader who had been ordered to attend a reform school for 45 days after he brought a Cub Scout camping utensil to lunch.

"The board hasn't even taken the issue," said Bryan Whalen, Matthew's father. "As far as the superintendent is concerned, he's made his decision and we haven't been offered the opportunity to even appeal that at a board meeting."

That policy is coming under fire from some education advocates, who say it is "pernicious" and inflexible and must be overturned.

"I just don't believe zero tolerance is the right way to go," said John Young, a board member in the Delaware school district that voted unanimously Tuesday night to reinstate 6-year-old Zachary Christie.

Young, who was not aware of the details of Whalen's case, said that as long as the school didn't have reason to suspect any intent to use the knife, "I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be overturned."

Young says the zero-tolerance policies were born in the wake of the 1999 Columbine school massacre, and were a response to worries from parents that school security needed to be beefed up. Though he doesn't support the policies, he said he understand the impulse to ensure school safety.

But Bryan Whalen says the policy allowed no room for his son, who did not pose a danger to the school. "It was another example of an administration not providing any thought, just trying to hide behind a blind rule for whatever reason."

Whalen said his son is more or less resigned to his fate but is still bewildered that he's in trouble over possession of a "keychain knife" after he handled M16s during an Army basic training course he completed over the summer.

He's "frustrated because he knows he's falling so far behind on his studies — he's missing a ninth of his senior year," Whalen said.

But Whalen says his son is feeling reassured from positive feedback he's getting from cadets at West Point who have "contacted him through Facebook and told him they're behind him and to keep fighting.

"'When he gets down there he'll be carrying a machine gun around campus,'" they wrote.

[Morel42]

Oh for the love of everything stupid in this world..

/sigh

Zero Tolerance laws are so fing stupid it's not even funny..

[Dredly]

how did they find the knife if it was locked in the kids car?

[Curmudgeon]

how did they find the knife if it was locked in the kids car?

He told them about it.

Is this the latest we have seen on this story? I was listening to the news on the drive home yesterday. All the questons being asked here have already been answered. This is all water under the bridge.

The boy hopes to eventually wind up his education at West Point. West Point has formally stated that this event would not keep him from attending.

The term "Zero Tolerance" should be renamed "Zero Intelligence". It is a perfect example of the stupidity that ensues when mindless emotion and sheer panic are allowed to run amok and enact legislation.

P.S. I was listening to Fox. How old is this article?

[Dredly]

He told them about it.

Is this the latest we have seen on this story? I was listening to the news on the drive home yesterday. All the questons being asked here have already been answered. This is all water under the bridge.

The boy hopes to eventually wind up his education at West Point. West Point has formally stated that this event would not keep him from attending.

The term "Zero Tolerance" should be renamed "Zero Intelligence". It is a perfect example of the stupidity that ensues when mindless emotion and sheer panic are allowed to run amok and enact legislation.

P.S. I was listening to Fox. How old is this article?

I think its a week or 2 old but it just shot to the forefront because of the 6 year old's issue in NJ

[ReconLdr]

This is unreal. This proves my theory... A lot of educated people are dumb. It seems like the more education some people have the worse they get. This baffles me.

If this does not get overturned, they should sue the school for unfair treatment. The baseball has bats, the field hockey team has sticks etc... Why can't a student have a pocket knife (small one) locked in the trunk of his car as part of a survival kit? It is not a weapon until it is used as such, until then it is only a tool.

The only question I have is how the school found out he had the knife in his car if it was locked up in the trunk? I am not passing blame, just curious if he was ratted out by someone?!?

ETA: I was typing my question when Curmudgeon posted his...

When I was in 10th grade I took a pistol to school. My grandfather gave me an old replica .44 cal Navy revolver he found while hunting. The wooden grip was busted and the pistol itself was rusted, and caked with dirt. I got permission from the school to take it to shop class and restore it. I worked on the pistol and the action during metal shop (1st semester) and hand made the grip during wood shop. (2nd semester) It turned out very nice, I shot it a few times when I was younger not sure I would trust it now. I still have it though.

[Paradigm]

Zero-tolerance regulations are just one of the many reasons why my kids will never see the inside of a public school.

What a joke.

But Lansingburgh High has a zero-tolerance policy for weapons, and when school officials discovered that Whalen kept his knife locked in his car, he says, they suspended him for five days — and then tacked on an additional 15 after a hearing.

I wonder how they found out...

And why tack on 15 more days? Wouldn't the all-knowing school board say, "We hate to give you the five days, but policy demands it. Sorry."

What posessed the superintendent to quadruple the penalty for a 2" knife locked away in the kid's car? Hatred for the Boy Scouts? Hatred for the military? Previous interaction with the kid or his parents? As someone who has tangled with the local administration and school board, all of the above are quite plausible.

[Curmudgeon]

I think its a week or 2 old but it just shot to the forefront because of the 6 year old's issue in NJ

That makes sense. It really bothers me, and I think it is very telling, that we see this kind of monumental stupidity (zero tolerance) from our LEADERS. We are soo overdue for a thorough "sweep and clear" of these self-serving morons.

[Dredly]

That makes sense. It really bothers me, and I think it is very telling, that we see this kind of monumental stupidity (zero tolerance) from our LEADERS. We are soo overdue for a thorough "sweep and clear" of these self-serving morons.

I think what we are seeing is the newest level of "equality", legal issues, and Politlcal correctness that has swept the nation.

How is it fair if a kid in central PA is allowed to leave his hunting rifle in his truck if an inner city kid gets booted out for having a razor blade?

Zero Tolerance ignores all factors including race, culture, and creed and applies a base line of rules to all people equally.

its fucking retarded and it should be left up to the high schools but that would only last as long as it takes for one punishment to be issued to a white kid and another to a black kid to bring the shit storm down.

[jcabin]

Zero Tolerance is the adopted stance by every school in america.

They just don't want to deal with the problems in todays PC ultra liberal world.

If they ban and prohibit everything that could be construed as evil or foul play, they wash their hands of being responsible for having to make any decisions.

He's a boy scout with a 2 inch blade in his trunk, with his survival gear.

They might as well have hung him and made an example of the kid, right?

If you're going to be serious about zero tolerance, then BE SERIOUS and kill ANY mother fucker who breaks the rules.