The petition
Prevent an innocent child from being prosecuted as a criminal!
On Sunday, April 29th, 2007, Danny was at his own birthday party along with his family. The party was held at a local park. They were making hamburgers and needed something to peel avocados. Danny provided a family member with his small, multipurpose, pocket-tool. Later on Sunday, the family-member wrapped the dirty tool in a napkin and returned it to Danny. Danny proceeded to put the entire contents in the pocket of his jeans. Tuesday morning, Danny put on the same pants he'd worn the previous Sunday. Minutes before school started, Danny reached into his pocket to ensure he had the keys for his bike-lock and home. Danny proceeded to extract the dirty napkin from his pocket. Danny had forgotten what was in it, so he un-wrapped the napkin to reveal the closed tool which had been used the previous Sunday. This was the first time that Danny brought the pocket tool to school and he'd brought it unknowingly. A student saw the closed tool, and asked him if it was a knife. Danny replied in the affirmative, to which the other student told Danny that he'd better throw it in the bushes at the other end of the school or he was going to be expelled. In fear of making himself tardy for school, Danny opted instead to put the tool into his backpack. The student who'd seen the closed tool told other students, who then reported the incident to his teacher. Danny was afraid he would get expelled, so he didn't tell an adult until he was called out of class to the office.
Danny has been suspended from school since Tuesday, May 1st, 2007. A police report was filed by the school, and the school district is now considering permanently expelling Danny.
Danny's teacher reports that Danny has not had any discipline problems at Newport Elementary. His teacher reports that he is a well mannered, kind student. Historically, Danny has always exemplified model behavior, and has never been in any physical fight.
Please sign our petition reflecting that you:
1) Feel strongly against the expulsion of Danny from Newport Elementary for this single adolescent mistake.
2) Support a zero-tolerance policy that is implemented only with common-sense punishments.
3) Feel that if the NMUSD expels Danny, they are being inflexible, harsh and lacking in common sense. Furthermore, NMUSD would be undermining the credibility of their own zero-tolerance system by pursuing silly cases and failing to understand that zero tolerance includes a range of punishments, including a note home, after-school detention, or temporary suspension.
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