Pennsylvania court: Pencil used to stab student not a weapon
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A state appeals court says a girl who stabbed another in the neck with a pencil at a Pittsburgh high school won’t have her suspension on her permanent record because the pencil wasn’t a “weapon” under the school’s conduct code.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Monday’s Commonwealth Court ruling upholds a lower court’s finding.
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials suspended the girl, who was then a 14-year-old 10th grader, for the attack last May at the Barack Obama International Academy.
The girl and her father sought a less-severe punishment, saying the sole reason for the harsh discipline was the district treating the incident as “possession of a ‘weapon’ … rather than responding to the actual misbehavior.”
An Allegheny County judge agreed and the school district appealed, prompting Monday’s ruling.