David Duren-Sanner, a senior at Northeast High School in Clarksville, Tenn., has been suspended for 10 days and faces criminal charges because school officials found a knife belonging to his father inside his father’s car, reports WTVF.
The vehicle in question was chosen via a random search, and Duren-Sanner gave school officials permission to search his car. The boy said he didn’t know the knife was there.
Duren-Sanner has a 3.0 GPA and participates in the ROTC.
Recent studies suggest that zero tolerance school discipline policies are not effective and may have negative effects, making students more likely to drop out and less likely to graduate on time. Some believe overly zealous school discipline policies have contributed to a “school-to-prison” pipeline.
The Obama administration in January issued non-binding guidelines that discourage the use of suspension.
Is this another example of zero tolerance student discipline policies being inappropriately applied?
