TRI In The News

Va. Court Asked to Reverse 14-Year-Old's Spit-Wad Suspension

October 20, 2011

10/20/2011

TRI IN THE NEWS: VA. COURT ASKED TO REVERSE 14-YEAR-OLD'S SPIT-WAD SUSPENSION

From The Washington Examiner

A 14-year-old student who was kicked out of school for six months after shooting plastic "spit wads" at classmates is waiting on a verdict from the Virginia Supreme Court.

Andrew Mikel was an honors student and a member of the Junior ROTC at Spotsylvania High School when "he got silly one day" and used part of a pen to shoot small plastic pellets, bought at a toy store, at other students during lunch, an attorney for Andrew said.

But school officials said there was nothing silly about it -- his act constituted "violent criminal conduct" and possession of a weapon, earning him a suspension in December 2010 that lasted for the rest of the school year.

The Spotsylvania County Circuit Court upheld the school board's decision in the discipline case, and Andrew's lawyers appealed. The Virginia Supreme Court is expected to rule within three weeks.

"We thought the punishment was so severe," said John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, which handles roughly 20 pro bono cases of "zero-tolerance" discipline each year.

Andrew felt so bad that he offered to rake the leaves in the front yards of the kids he had hit, said Whitehead, who felt the school board ignored his record as a student and dreams of attending the U.S. Naval Academy.

"He made a mistake. He got silly one day," Whitehead said. "When I was in school I shot spit wads every day. The worst they did was call my mother."

Spotsylvania County Schools declined to comment beyond a statement they put out on Aug. 31 following the circuit court's decision that the school board had not "arbitrarily or capriciously" enforced discipline or abused its discretion.

"Evidence presented at the public hearing included evidence that other students were harmed by the actions of one student," school officials said. "Unlike some inaccurate reports that use the term 'spitwads,' the evidence presented in court proved that the offensive projectiles in this case were hard plastic air gun pellets."

The case has hit home for families in Fairfax County. The school system's recent overhaul of its discipline policy was prompted by the January suicide of 15-year-old Nick Stuban, who was suspended, kept out of school for months, then transferred to another school after he admitted to possessing a synthetic marijuana capsule.

"It's obviously an overreach, and a perfect example of what's wrong with our discipline policies in Virginia," said Caroline Hemenway, director of Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform, a parent and community group formed in 2006. "Here I am [traveling] in Los Angeles, and I've already met two people here, one from Fauquier, one from Fairfax, who went through terrible discipline policies there."

Hemenway said the case was upsetting, but not surprising.

"This is the sort of case that never would have gotten as far as it had if there wasn't a conversation growing and spreading across the state," she said.

Whitehead said he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if Virginia's court does not overturn the ruling.