TRI In The News

Court Approves Suspension for 'Spit Wad'

5/25/2011

TRI IN THE NEWS: COURT APPROVES SUSPENSION FOR 'SPIT WAD'

From WorldNetDaily
Original article available here.

A circuit court has approved a school's decision to suspend a 14-year-old honor student for the "violent criminal conduct" of shooting plastic "spit wads" at classmates.

The ruling today from the Circuit Court of the County of Spotsylvania in Virginia also affirmed the penalty for "possession" of a weapon – the hollow body of a pen.

"We're greatly disappointed by this ruling, which does not in any way see justice served," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Andrew Mikel is merely the latest in a long line of victims of school zero tolerance policies whose educations have been senselessly derailed by school administrators lacking in both common sense and compassion."

It was on Dec. 10, 2010, when the 9th-grader, a student at Spotsylvania High, was sent to the principal's office after shooting a handful of small, hollow pellets akin to plastic spit wads at fellow students in the school hallway during lunch period.

Mikel, an honor student active in Junior ROTC and in his church, initially was suspended for 10 days and charged with criminal assault and possession of a weapon under the school's Student Code of Conduct.

But, according to the Rutherford Institute, the Spotsylvania County school board later voted to expel Mikel for the remainder of the school year, allegedly on the recommendation of the school's assistant principal.

School officials also referred the matter to local law enforcement, which initiated juvenile criminal proceedings for assault, resulting in Mikel being placed in a diversion program, as well as having to take substance abuse and anger management counseling.

The Institute had petitioned to court to intervene on Mikel's behalf. And the organization has offered its assistance to the Mikel family should members choose to appeal the court's decision.

Institute attorneys had argued there was no basis for calling the actions "criminal" or describing spit wads as "weapons." Further, they argued the conduct did not rise to the level required for expulsion or long-term suspension under the Student Code of Conduct.

As a result of the criminal charges, Mikel, who had hoped to attend the U.S. Naval Academy following graduation from high school, can no longer be considered as an applicant.

Mikel's father, a former Navy Seabee and Marine officer who was awarded a meritorious service medal for solving the problem of "brown-out" for helicopters in Iraq (the sand caused static electricity that interfered with instruments during landing), credits his son with inspiring the solution.

"I fought for my country and the rights of people here, and my family sacrificed right along with me," stated Mikel Sr. "The actions of the school system are completely inconsistent with what I fought for."

"I don't know how kids survive in schools nowadays," said John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, which provides free legal assistance to people whose constitutional rights have been violated and which sued the school board on Mikel's behalf, seeking his immediate reinstatement to school and an expunging of all records related to the suspension. "They're charging kids with all kinds of wacky things. A kid gets busted for having a Magic Marker in his pocket as a weapon."

He continued, "We've been fighting zero-tolerance cases since the mid-1990's, and it's getting worse. There's a very dangerous, monolithic mindset, there's no freedom in schools."

Whitehead characterized school zero-tolerance policies as "so uniform, so politically correct, so oppressive."

"The school board feels that they gave the child and his father a fair hearing and handled the situation appropriately," said Mark Cole, a Spotsylvania delegate to the Virginia general assembly. He intervened with the school board and sheriff's department on the boy's behalf. "They said that if the child hit someone in the eye it could have damaged their eye. They suspended the child for the rest of the school year, which I think is excessive."

Andrew's grandfather, Jim Mikel, contends the hearing was anything but fair because of the testimony provided by Lisa Andruss, the Spotsylvania High School assistant principal:

"After a brief introduction, Ms. Andruss began a systemized, vicious attack on my grandson," wrote Mikel. "She made no pretense of being evenhanded or fair. She not only presented statements and evidence, but made it clear that she wanted my grandson expelled, and also wanted criminal punishment to the fullest extent of the law. She cited the school's 'zero tolerance' policy as her guideline. She produced tiny foam-like balls, and a long metallic-looking tube, which she stated they 'found in the vicinity' sometime after the events. I asked Andrew quietly if he had used this tube to shoot the plastic balls, and he said he had never seen it before. I was under the impression that the sheriff had confiscated the actual device used, part of a ball point pen, which he had."

A letter from the school announcing the suspension also described Mikel's alleged crime, claiming he had "assaulted" three student and had been in possession of "projectiles and [a] device to propel projectiles, which are violations of Student Code of Conduct section B, article 3, item b … and item g."

Section B, article 3 of Spotsylvania County's Student Code of Conduct addresses "violent criminal conduct."

Item "b" reads: "killing, shooting, stabbing, cutting, wounding, otherwise physically injuring or battering any person;"

Item "g" reads, in part: "Any type of weapon, or object used to intimidate, threaten or harm others, any explosive device or any dangerous article(s) shall subject the student to a recommendation of expulsion."

"Weapon" includes: "any pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, pellet pistol or rifle, B-B gun or air rifle, starter gun, crossbow or any device capable of firing a missile or projectile."

Dangerous weapon? Spotsylvania County's photo of the pen and pellets confiscated from Andrew Mikel

"My son realizes what he did was foolish. He knows he shouldn't have done that," Mikel's father said. "It wasn't appropriate, it was horseplay. Some punishment should have occurred, but they went overboard about it. If they gave him a couple of days detention I would understand, but to classify him as a violent criminal bringing weapons to school and using them to harm kids, it's just ridiculous."

Since his suspension, the Mikel family has homeschooled Andrew.