Seven-year-old Samuel Burgos was expelled from school for one year, with the possibility that it might stretch to two years, for bringing a clear plastic, spring-action toy gun to school.
He never threatened anyone with it. He never even took it out of his book bag ("Samuel said that he was playing army with his friends one weekend, and he decided to hide the toy gun from his brother, so he placed it in his school bag. He went to school on Monday and said that he forgot he had the toy with him").
Samuel, now 8, has been out of school for almost a year. His parents have home-schooled him since he was expelled...It should be noted that this took place in Broward County, Fla., which is a democrap stronghold.
"He has been deprived of an education. My son made a mistake, and they kept him out a year," said Samuel's mother, Karen Burgos.
And it may be longer than that before Samuel is permitted to rejoin his classmates. A hearing will be held this month as his family fights his expulsion. Because the school board's order has not yet been finalized, his punishment could be extended into next year.
"I miss my friends," Samuel said.
Samuel spends his days playing baseball and practicing his studies with his parents. He should be in third grade now, but he's already missed most of second grade and may find himself two years behind by the time this matter is resolved.
"This is a 7-year-old child," said Kathy Christie of the Education Commission of the States. "This is a case where it was not brandished. It's a plastic gun. ... It just seems a long time to penalize a young man like that, a long time to take him out of that educational experience."
During their son's expulsion, Samuel's parents were offered the chance to send their son to an alternative school. The school, for "at risk" kids, has about 200 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
"We said this is not an option, this is unacceptable," Samuel's father said. "I cannot, as a concerned parent, send my child, to a correctional school...
It's also the same county where voters couldn't figure out the infamous butterfly ballot.
Pretty friggin' complicated, isn't it?
I guess the powers-that-be in Broward County find it easier to blindly follow rules and regulations ("Ve vere chust following orders, mein herr") then to take into consideration the impact on seven-year-old kids.
If Samuel didn't have any issues before this, it's much more likely he'll have a few afterward.
To repeat: there is nothing so uncommon as common sense.
2 comments:
This is unbelievable. I could spend all day listing the criminal offenses of true thugs that sit alongside good kids each day in public schools. WTF is up with this BS? Clearly, no one in that school district cares about educating that child. I cannot comprehend why this has dragged on so long.
Once I went to school driving my mom's car, a hatchback. The night before, it had been her turn to bring the beer for her softball team. The empties and leftovers were in clear sight in the back of the car. I didn't notice, but the school security guy did. I got called into the office, they called my mom, confirmed the confusion, asked her to come get the beer (lest I get caught driving home with it) and that was the end of it. There is no more common sense in the world.
Sad, isn't it.
I think a big part of the problem is that bureaucrats figure that if they follow a set of black-and-white rules they won't get in trouble for exercising judgment and discretion.
The only way to change that is to call them out on it every time it leads to a ridiculous outcome, like in this case.
Hold them accountable no matter how hard they try to wiggle out of it...
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