An Akron, Ohio middle-school student just received a five day suspension for what school officials claimed was crack. The only problem with the schools claim was that what the students called happy crack was just a nickname for powdered Kool-Aid and sugar.
Iverson Sibley, 14, did nothing wrong. She did nothing illegal. All she did was bought a sugary mix that students jokingly referred to as happy crack due to its hyperactive effects when eaten or mixed into a drink.
It could not have been more innocent. But to officials at Akros Middle School, this was tantamount to an eighth-grade drug deal.
School officials said that security cameras caught Sibley engaged in what looked like a drug-type transaction.
Seriously.
What she was really doing was buying a Ziploc bag with a mixture of Kool-Aid powder and sugar from a friend. Students like the mixture for how wired it gets them even helping them stay awake in class. But all of the innocent reasons why students like the Kool-Aid/sugar mix are irrelevant because there is nothing wrong or illegal with what Sibley did.
In spite of that, she was given a five-day suspension anyway. Facts meant nothing to the school administrators.
Erika Yarborough, Sibleys mother, says the punishment didnt fit the crime which in this case was not actually a crime at all.
We want to encourage our kids to go to school, to better themselves. This is petty, Yarborough explained. Shes out of school for five days, not getting an education, because she had some sugar in her pocket.
Yarborough ended up withdrawing her daughter from the charter school, after speaking to the principal, hoping for a resolution that never came.
She says her daughter will return to Akron Public Schools, and start Buchtel High School Thursday.
The school issued the following statement to local News New 5:
Akros Middle School opened in 2010 to provide school choice to the parents in the Akron and surrounding areas. Many of our students have moved on to local private high schools and college preparatory schools to further their education. It is unfortunate that discipline issues interfere with the educational process; however, many of our parents are appreciative that our school is known for its safe learning environment. We will continue to hold our students with high expectations to prepare them for a successful future.
What do you think about this incident? Do you buy the schools response?