Gun Sketch - NOT the actual sketch from the student in this post.

From the The Arizona Republic:

Parents angered by the suspension of their child for drawing a picture of a gun on an assignment paper are questioning the Chandler Unified School District’s policies dealing with such incidents.  The Payne Junior High eighth-grader, along with another student, was suspended Monday for five days. Parents Paula and Ben Mosteller were able to get the suspension reduced to three after meeting with school officials.

The uproar over the drawing, which the student turned in with a school assignment, cuts to the question of what constitutes a "threat."  Craig Gilbert, Chandler director of secondary education, said there’s a range of punishment administrators can hand down for "implied threats," ranging from a parent conference to suspension and expulsion.

Gilbert confirmed another student also was suspended in connection with the incident but would not go into detail because of student privacy laws.  School officials have put the student’s sketch in his file, which is not open to the public. And since school officials did not call the police, there’s no public police record. 

What is going on here?  We have a teenage son.  We have seen many sketches like this in our house over the years.  We think he is a great artist.  The fact that these two students from Payne Junior High were punished so severely for their work is Just Stupid!  Over reaction run amok.

Technorati Tags: suspended student, gun sketch, weapons

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