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Title: Girl suspended from school for cutting peach with child butter knife
Source:
WTAJ-TV, Altoona
URL Source: http://www.wearecentralpa.com/news/ ... -peach-with-child-butter-knife
Published: Nov 18, 2016
Author: Staff
Post Date: 2016-11-23 05:33:05 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 42837
Comments: 74
A South Florida couple is outraged after they said their daughter was suspended from her middle school for using a child butter knife at lunchtime to cut a peach, Local10.com reported. "There's no one there trying to educate and to be reasonable to say, 'Let's work this out,'" the girl's father, Ronald Souto, said. Souto's daughter is an honor roll student at Silver Trail Middle School in Pembroke Pines. "She's always trying to help someone. She's always trying to share things," Souto said about his daughter. Ronald and Andrea Souto told Local 10 News reporter Michael Seiden that their 11-year-old daughter was suspended for six days for bringing the knife to school. "This is a set of a spoon, fork and knife for toddlers -- one year old," Andrea Souto said. "It is made for children to learn how to eat properly. She's used it since she was baby." According to the school district, the girl violated the county's weapon policy when she used her butter knife in the cafeteria to cut the peach. "The friend asked for half of the peach and she cuts half of the peach and gives to her friend. She goes to the bathroom and comes back and the guy said, 'Follow me,'" Ronald Souto said. Ronald said he hopes what happened to his daughter will bring change to the district, specifically new polices when it comes to weapons. He's not alone. "I think the principal should revisit this and everyone (should) sit down to the table, and let's just say, 'Don't do it again.' This is outrageous to go to that extreme," Melvin J. Smith, whose grandson attends the school, said. The Soutos said they were shocked about the suspension and are now concerned that their daughter's act of kindness could lead to criminal charges. "She's afraid now of the educators. She's afraid of people at school. They need to change the system," Ronald Souto said. A Broward County school district spokeswoman declined to offer specifics about the incident because of "student privacy," but said, "The school followed district policy regarding this incident and continues to work with the student and parents involved. It is the district's priority to maintain safe and secure campuses for students and staff at all times." The Pembroke Pines Police Department said it has turned over their investigation to the State Attorney's Office. It's unclear whether prosecutors will file charges, but the family's attorney said the school board isn't doing its job in this case. "The school board has abused its discretion to act in this case," Larry Meltzer said. "It is tragic that a school that this little girl loves sees fit to prosecute and suspend her -- the epitome of a model and honor roll student -- for using a child-proof utensil that could never be construed in any form as a weapon in order to share part of her lunch with a fellow classmate. "This item at all times was used in the school's lunch room as it should be -- to cut a peach and share lunch with a friend," he added. "She should be applauded for her generosity, kindness and for her motivation to be a great student in all senses of that word. "The only harm that has been exacted in this case is by Silver Trail Middle School and the Broward County School Board upon one of its finest students and upon one who exemplifies the type of person and student it wishes to help create. It is truly senseless and does reflects poorly upon the type of educators and law enforcement involved in this case." Police turn investigation over to Florida State Attorney's Office
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#55. To: Deckard (#0)
May I ask what the girl was expected to use to cut the peach with in the cafeteria?
Whatever the school, at its sole discretion, provides. That could be a plastic spork or whatever. I assume the other kids are getting it done somehow. If the school allows knives and someone gets stabbed, the school district gets sued for allowing an unsafe environment. If some school authority determines that Johhny's knife is dangerous, and Jimmy's is not, the school district gets sued for disparate treatment. If the school sets a zero tolerance policy, and enforces it, they are golden. It is difficult to make any lawsuit.
What kind of school is this...a reform school for delinquents? It sounds to me like prison.
It is now a typical school that must face the reality of litigation such as that described below. They sue the school district because that is where the potential jackpot is. The school districts must take measures to prevent jackpot payments. FYI: Islip is pronounced ICE-lip. http://www.courthousenews.com/CNSNEWS/Story/Index/93615 8/17/2016 5:45:00 AM, Nick Divito CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CN) — Schoolyard bullies frightened a 12-year-old developmentally disabled Pakistani-American boy by calling him a terrorist, so to fend them off and without knowing what he was talking about, he said he belonged to ISIS and was going to blow up the school's fence, his mother says in a $50 million lawsuit against the school. Nubaisha Amar sued the East Islip Union Free School District, East Islip Middle School, the school superintendent, principal and an assistant principal on Monday in Federal Court. Amar calls her son's ordeal a prime example of "Islamophobia," and "rampant discrimination" against Muslims, which is "ongoing, escalating and troubling." Her son has a known "social, language and learning disability," she says. Through bullying by his peers, he was coerced to say he was a member of ISIS, "a vile, abhorrent and infamous terrorist organization," his attorney wrote in the 44-page lawsuit. The boy was born in Islip Terrace, a town in Suffolk County, a suburb of Long Island, N.Y. He was attending Connetquot Elementary School when the bullying began. He had been diagnosed with "severe learning and social disabilities, as well as speech, language, vocabulary and communication impairment." He had been diagnosed with the learning disabilities since kindergarten, the lawsuit notes. Psychological evaluations in his file noted that he was "very sweet and cooperative," and a "kind boy," "very polite." But in January this year he was subjected to "severe bullying" from an older pack of students in the school cafeteria. They called him a "terrorist," and asked "what he was going to blow up next," his mother says in the complaint. In an attempt to stop the incessant bullying, he finally said that he is a terrorist and was going to blow up a fence at the school. But he had no idea what that meant, his mother says. He thought a "'terrorist' was someone who 'travels from place to place,' more akin to a 'tourist,'" and he said "fence" "because that was the first thing he saw when he peered out of the cafeteria window," his mom says in the complaint. He was plucked out of gym class and hauled into the principal's office, where the principal interrogated him, asking him, among other things, if he knew who Osama bin Laden was, and if he was part of ISIS, his mother says. His backpack, wallet and cellphone were illegally searched, and he was forced to confess that he was part of ISIS, that he knew how to make bombs, was making them at his home, and was going to blow up the school, according to the complaint. He didn't write the confession; he just unknowingly signed it, according to the complaint. That first bogus confession was ripped from his hands and torn up, and a new draft was made. He was forced under duress to sign another confession to the same accusations. His mother, who was six months pregnant at the time, came into the office , "scared, dizzy and distraught," after being called to talk to security. Her son was banned from school for more than a month. The boys who taunted him were never disciplined, his mother says. Mother and son were taken to a police station and their home was searched, including the boy's room, his phone and all computers. The boy now suffers from "extreme emotional distress, including, but not limited to nightmares, sleeplessness, crying, fear, humiliation and stress," according to the complaint. The family seeks punitive damages for defamation, racial and disability discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress and several constitutional violations. The school district declined to comment in a phone call Tuesday afternoon. The lawsuit was filed by David Antwork.
From your post #54, I quote you from above. If the parents did sign a statement of such concerning the school handbook and the school zero policy on bringing of illegal items on the campus, then is it fair to say that the parents would lose in court because they waived their right to sue?
They make it mandatory to sign an acknowledgement of the rules in order for little Johnny to attend the school. This is done for legal reasons to defeat any subsequent claim of unawareness of the rules. They did not waive their right to sue, but they have no case. It would be documented that they acknowledged knowing the rules. With knowledge of the rules, they sent their snowflake to school with what they knew to be a prohibited knife. From the article at the top: To make this case, one would have to prove that the school board did not have the discretionary power to prohibit the bringing of knives to school, or to implement a zero tolerance policy providing for a mandatory suspension. If the school does not ban knives, someone is sure to sue them for abuse of discretion for allowing students to bring weapons to school, allowing an unsafe environment, and failing their affirmative duty to provide a safe environment. Let the first student get stabbed and see who gets sued, the student doing the stabbing or the school district with the money. In the example at #54, a boy is called names by other boys and says he is going to set off a bomb at the school. The school reports it. Mom sues the school district for $50M. If a teacher used a paddle today, little Johnny would tell his parents and they would sue. And when you went to school and got paddled, if you complained to your parents, you may have got another paddling for misbehaving. If students are fighting in the classroom, totally disrupting class, it goes on while the teacher calls the assigned safety officer and waits for him to arrive to break it up.
What I find interesting about schools like this is that while they will impose mandatory policies on our children they will also impose the teachings of Sharia law in the classroom yet ban the teachings of Jesus.
There are no replies to Comment # 68. End Trace Mode for Comment # 68.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestAccording to the school district, the girl violated the county's weapon policy when she used her butter knife in the cafeteria to cut the peach.
#56. To: goldilucky (#55)
May I ask what the girl was expected to use to cut the peach with in the cafeteria?
#57. To: nolu chan (#56)
#64. To: goldilucky (#57)
What kind of school is this...a reform school for delinquents? It sounds to me like prison.
Muslim Mom Sues School for $50 Million
#65. To: nolu chan (#64)
The Code of Student Conduct, Policy 5.8 will be distributed electronically. Students and parents are required to sign a statement indicating that they have received their Code of Student Conduct booklet, are aware of the explanation of rules it provides in policy, and have selected their options for media and directory information release.
#66. To: goldilucky (#65)
If the parents did sign a statement of such concerning the school handbook and the school zero policy on bringing of illegal items on the campus, then is it fair to say that the parents would lose in court because they waived their right to sue?
"The school board has abused its discretion to act in this case," Larry Meltzer said.
#68. To: nolu chan (#66)
Replies to Comment # 68.
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