Steak knife keeps student from graduating with class
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FORT MYERS, Fla. - An honors student suspended for having a steak knife in her car did not graduate with her class yesterday, despite a last-minute appeal to federal court.
The U.S. District Court judge refused to issue an order that would have allowed Lindsay Brown, 18, to walk down the aisle with her classmates after she was suspended - based on her school district's zero-tolerance policy - for five school days and barred from her graduation ceremony for having the knife.
Officials found a steak knife in her car May 21. Brown said it fell out of a box the previous day while she was moving, and she did not know she had brought it to school. Lee County sheriff's deputies arrested Brown on a charge of possession of a weapon on school property. A hearing on the charge is scheduled June 22.
U.S. District Judge John Steele refused to overturn an order by the Lee County School District that banned Brown from participating in the ceremonies.
Steele said Brown's attorney, Jerry Lovelace, had failed to show that Estero High School officials had violated Brown's rights to a fair hearing.
Principal Fred Bode said Brown violated the school district's zero-tolerance policy that says students are not permitted to bring any weapon onto school property.
"I'm disappointed," said Brown, holding back tears, her face red as she stood outside the courthouse. "I won't have any graduation memories, but it will just be something I have to live with." She will receive her diploma after the ceremony.
Suspensions over kitchen knives, rubber bands and paper guns have ignited a national debate over zero-tolerance rules.
Some school officials are rethinking policies they enacted to keep students safe while others are standing by their rules.
"They are supposed to be able to tell the difference between a paring knife and a switch blade," said Robert Schwartz, director of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia.
Brown plans to attend Florida Gulf Coast University. The school's president, William Merwin, has said the university will raise money for her tuition if she doesn't receive her state-sponsored scholarship because of her arrest.
Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.