By By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
Jan. 13, 2001
It will be up to the Meridian School Board to decide if further disciplinary action is warranted in the case of two Oakland Heights Elementary School students suspended Jan. 9 after pocket knives were found in their possession.
The students are in the second and fourth grades.
The school's principal, Dr. Kim Benton, said the incident was reported by other students.
Benton said the boys did not use the knives in a fight or in a threatening manner. School security guards were called to handle the situation, she said.
The boys' suspension will remain in effect until board members decide what to do.
The incident was the first of its kind since November, when three elementary school students were suspended for bringing knives to school. In those cases, a Parkview Elementary School student was suspended after school officials found a knife in a lunch box, apparently placed there to cut up fruit. A few weeks earlier, a Parkview student was suspended for possessing a knife on campus.
During that same month, a Poplar Springs student was suspended for carrying a knife.
In October, one Northwest Junior High School student was suspended after being found in possession of a box cutter, a weapon she reportedly told others she would use in an attack on another student. During that same month, two 9-year-old girls were suspended and turned over to juvenile authorities after knives were found in their possession.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at mtodd@themeridianstar.com.