On The Front Lines
Zero Tolerance Alert: Elementary School Officials in Virginia Suspend Kindergartner for Crying, Disrupting Class
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Decrying yet another instance of zero tolerance run amok, John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, is calling on school officials at Tallwood Elementary School to immediately rescind the suspension of 6-year-old Bronson Clark, who was given an out-of-school suspension for allegedly crying at school and disrupting the educational process.
The Institute's letter to Tallwood Elementary School officials is available here.
"It is our hope that the decision to suspend a kindergartner for crying in class is simply indicative of a brief lapse in judgment on the part of school officials,' said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "However, lapse in judgment or not, there can be no denying that in recent years, there has been an alarming trend on the part of public school officials to apply overly harsh punishments to student behaviors that may be inappropriate but present no real danger to the school community."
On March 18, 2011, school officials at Tallwood Elementary School in Virginia Beach notified Gary and Heather Clark that their 6-year-old son Bronson had been suspended from school for allegedly crying in class and disrupting the educational process. In contacting The Rutherford Institute for help, Bronson's parents expressed serious concerns regarding a lack of communication from Bronson's teacher about his allegedly disruptive behavior. According to Mr. Clark, from October 2010 through February 2011, no attempts were made by school personnel to involve Mr. and Mrs. Clark in efforts to correct Bronson's so-called "disturbing" behavior. Unfortunately, rather than adopting a collaborative approach with Bronson's parents in order to discuss the possible causes of their son's emotional distress and implement responses likely to resolve the underlying issues, school officials opted instead to apply the hammer of bureaucratic punishment and suspend the kindergartner.
However, as Whitehead notes in his letter, "the notation of 'suspension' on Bronson's academic record will carry with it a stigma that this merely immature behavior simply does not warrant. Suspension and expulsion should be reserved only for the most egregious disciplinary infractions and for those cases where that punishment is mandated by Virginia law. Most importantly, sanctions should be tailored to the individual circumstances of each student and not imposed in an artificial, 'one-size-fits-all' approach that lacks reason, proportionality and compassion."
Institute attorneys have requested that school officials remedy the situation immediately by reversing the suspension and completely expunging the incident from Bronson Clark's academic record.
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