Pencil not a weapon in city schools, appeals court rules
May 2, 2017 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – by Dan Majors
The pen may be mightier than the sword, but a pencil is not a weapon.
That is the opinion the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania filed Monday, upholding a lower court’s ruling regarding the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ yearlong suspension of a 10th-grader for using a pencil to stab a classmate multiple times in the neck. The ruling means the suspension will not appear on her permanent record.
The Barack Obama International Academy student, who was 14 when the incident occurred May 9, 2016, attacked the classmate during an argument over a cologne bottle cap that had been thrown at her. The injured boy was treated by the school nurse for minor wounds.