PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Pennsylvania appeals court says a 14-year-old girl who stabbed a boy in the neck with a pencil at their high school won’t have her suspension on her permanent record because the pencil wasn’t a “weapon” under the school’s conduct code.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (https://bit.ly/2p1zB5k ) reports Monday’s Commonwealth Court ruling upholds a lower court’s finding.
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials suspended the 10th-grader for the attack last May at Barack Obama International Academy. The injured boy was treated for minor wounds.
The girl and her father sought a less severe punishment, saying the sole reason for the harsh discipline was the district treating the situation as “possession of a ’weapon’ … rather than responding to the actual misbehavior.”
An Allegheny County judge agreed and the school district appealed, prompting Monday’s ruling.
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Information from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, https://www.post-gazette.com
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