In the past two weeks, students at North Woods International Elementary School in Wisconsin have been caught with knives, spray paint and fake marijuana, the La Crosse Tribune reports.
According to Steve Salerno, associate superintendent of human resources for the La Crosse School District, “the safety and the welfare of the kids was never jeopardized,” hence the pre-K-5 school’s decision not to notify all North Woods parents.
Two weeks ago, a boy was suspended after bringing a plastic bag filled with a brown dried substance to school. He told authorities the substance was marijuana, but it tested negative for THC and smelled like oregano, according to the police report. Police were also summoned to North Woods following reports that students brought two knives and a can of spray paint to school.
The second boy told authorities that a Logan Middle School student had given him spray paint at a bus stop before school to paint his bike, but used it to paint parts of a nearby playground instead.
Salerno declined to comment to the Tribune how the three students would be disciplined, but said punishment for such offenses could include suspension or expulsion.
In January, 13-year-old Jack Persyn received four days of in-school suspension at Lanier Middle School in Georgia after reporting he had accidentally brought a short knife to school. His aunt had bought the bag he was using at school from a yard sale, and gave the purchase to the teen without checking inside first. His father, Bill Persyn, called the punishment excessive and “nonsensical.”
Just last week, four students at Pekin High School in Illinois were suspended and barred from attending the weekend’s homecoming festivities for bringing to lunch caffeinated mints, which the school suspected were drugs. But even upon determining the tablets were just mints, school officials upheld the suspensions for gross misconduct by taking an unknown product.
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