http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/CURRENT/LOCzero.shtml Web posted Friday, October 13, 2000 Boy, 12, locked up, suspended from school Judge throws out knife charge, questions zero-tolerance policy. By Jan Skutch Savannah Morning News Monday became a nightmare for a 12-year-old public school pupil. By the time classes ended, he had been arrested for violating the Savannah-Chatham County school board's zero-tolerance policy and sent to the juvenile detention center, where he remained for the better part of two days before regaining his freedom. The boy, a sixth-grader at Coastal Georgia Comprehensive Academy, arrived at school with what was described as a Swiss Army pocket knife on a key chain. When he realized he had it, he turned it in to his teacher. That's when the problem escalated. Because the knife had a blade of two or more inches, it exceeded the school board's zero-tolerance policy against weapons. Campus police were called and the child was arrested on a charge of carrying a weapon to school. He then was photographed and fingerprinted and held at the Savannah Regional Youth Detention Center until a detention hearing on Wednesday. Even after Chatham County Juvenile Judge John Beam Jr. dismissed the charge and released the child to return home, the nightmare continued. School officials informed his mother that her son was on a 10-day suspension. Did the System Work? "I'm just glad to have my child home," the boy's mother said Wednesday. She said her son was given the knife Monday morning by a neighbor and forgot he had it. When he found it, he immediately turned it in, she said. After Beam dismissed the case Wednesday morning, she said, she was notified by school officials about 1:30 p.m. that he would be suspended. "I got to go back and find out what the school board is going to do," she said. "I hope he does not have to serve 10 days." The child was at Coastal this year because of earlier problems in his previous school, his mother said. Coastal Georgia Comprehensive Academy is a school for children with special needs. It is not an alternative school for a disruptive child. "I've been having problems with my son for a while. He acts out," the single mother of five said. "The regular public school said it can't handle his behavior problems. That's the reason he's there." School system spokesman Sisty Walsh said the zero-tolerance philosophy is contained in the student code of conduct handbook and relies on a school principal's determination of what is best for that school. But she could not comment on specifics in the case because of legal constraints that would violate any student's right and expectation to privacy. School Superintendent Virginia Edwards also declined to comment, citing the same legal advice. "There is no flexibility in the policy," Edwards said. "At this point we have strictly enforced the policy. (But) Parents always have the right to appeal." Judge Didn't Like What He Saw Beam said something is wrong here. "This is a 12-year-old in our detention center designed to hold children who have a history of hurting people." Beam said. "I think the policy should be flexible to take into account those children who try to do the right thing. "He did everything right except take the knife to school. The child did exactly what our community expects our children to do, which is if they inadvertently have a pocket knife, we want them to turn that knife into a teacher. "My fear is that if they think they will be punished for turning in that knife, they will simply conceal it." Beam declined to identify the child because the case was dismissed prior to adjudication. It was the child's first referral to juvenile court and no petition was filed with the court for adjudication of the case, Beam said. Juvenile court policy is to incarcerate those children who bring weapons to school except where the child voluntarily turns the weapon over to school staff. In this case, the first indication the court had of the circumstances came at Wednesday's detention hearing, Beam said. Jeff Hendrix, the assistant district attorney at juvenile court for the past 13 years, supports a zero-tolerance policy but said it inevitably highlights the exceptions. "This wasn't a matter, in my opinion, that needed to be formally prosecuted by a petition," Hendrix said. "There are going to be one or two cases in which things may not appear fair or just. "There's always going to be that one case in which people are bound by the rules." State law defines a knife with a blade of two or more inches as a weapon, Hendrix said. The board's policy mirrors that law. It was his understanding that the knife in question had a blade of about three inches on a key chain, he said. "When a kid takes a weapon to school, the law requires that the school system must immediately notify the police and district attorney," Hendrix said. "When I got the facts at the detention hearing, everything changed," he added. Hendrix said his recommendation to Campus Police Chief Ulysses Bryant is to call and discuss the circumstances of a case before referral for detention. "I don't mind talking to them 24-7," Hendrix said. "That's why I'm here." After Wednesday's hearing, Hendrix said, he filed a motion -- approved by Beam -- to remove record of the child's fingerprinting and photographs taken at the detention center. "It's just a sad case, you know?" Hendrix said. Senior reporter Jan Skutch can be reached at 652-0336 or jskutch@savannahnow.com What was said "I think the (zero-tolerance) policy should be flexible to take into account those children who try to do the right thing." Judge John Beam JR. "There is no flexibility in the policy. At this point we have strictly enforced the policy. (But) Parents always have the right to appeal." Superintendent Virginia Edwards How one child's school day went bad * Oct. 9: A 12-year-old boy turns in a Swiss Army knife to his teacher at Coastal Georgia Comprehensive Academy and is arrested for carrying a weapon to school under the school board's zero-tolerance policy. * Oct. 9-11: The student is taken to the Savannah Area Youth Detention Center where he is photographed, fingerprinted and held pending a detention hearing. * Oct. 11: Chatham County Juvenile Judge John Beam Jr. dismisses the charge of carrying a weapon to school after hearing evidence at a detention hearing. This after a campus police officer testifies his hands were tied by the school board's zero-tolerance policy but he felt the kid made the right decision when he turned the knife in to his teacher. * Oct. 11: Within hours of the court's dismissal, school officials inform the child's mother her son is suspended from school for 10 days beginning that day. * Oct. 17: The child's mother is to meet with school officials at the board office to learn of her child's school future. Zero-tolerance policy (excerpts): "The Board of Education has implemented a 'zero tolerance' philosophy for students Pre-K-12 and employees regarding possession and/or use of drugs or alcohol, acts of violence, and possession of weapons within a school safety zone. "No students shall possess, handle, display, discharge, transmit or otherwise use any firearm... or other objects that reasonably can be considered a weapon. "Any student who uses, or threatens to use, a deadly weapon, including but not limited to a firearm or knife, which may cause bodily harm or death, will be subject to permanent expulsion." Source: District policies and procedures, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools