Burgettstown senior suspended for carrying pepper spray, says it was for protection
A Burgettstown High School senior was suspended for 10 days after unintentionally bringing pepper spray to the prom.
Now, Fiona Walsh, an honor student, has started a change.org petition to change the way school districts regard pepper spray, which is considered a weapon, the same as guns, knives, and explosive devices.
“My main goal is to advocate for other girls who might encounter something similar, when they’re just trying to be safe,” said Walsh.
Walsh, 18, arrived at Burgettstown’s prom May 7 at Southpointe Golf Club, where a security person who checked her bag found a canister of pepper spray she had accidentally left inside.
“I had forgotten I had it on a key ring in there, so it didn’t occur to me to check to take it out. They called the school police officer over, and I said, ‘I’m sorry, it’s an absent-minded mistake, can you hold it for me so I can get it at the end of the dance and walk back to my car?'” said Walsh.
As Walsh left the dance later in the evening, though, she was escorted to a room with the school police officer, high school principal, and the district superintendent, who called her mother, Teresa Walsh, to notify her that Walsh had violated the school weapons policy.
According to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, pepper spray is considered a chemical agent and is listed among objects “capable of inflicting serious bodily injury.”
On the following Monday, Walsh was informed she faced at least a three-day suspension and possible expulsion.
At a Tuesday meeting between Teresa Walsh and the superintendent, Teresa was told that her daughter would be suspended for 10 days and would not be permitted to participate in senior activities. She would, however, be allowed to attend her graduation on June 2.
“I understand it’s a weapons violation, and I think we were all expecting I’d get suspended for three days,” said Fiona Walsh. “In the meeting, my mom said the senior activities were, and are, more important to me than graduation. If it’s going to be one or the other, I’d rather participate in the senior activities,” said Walsh. “I feel disheartened and saddened by all of this.”
Pepper spray, which can be bought at retail and sporting goods stores for about $10, is a popular self-defense spray. Walsh said she has carried it for protection since around the time she started driving and began working.
She said it was not her intention to risk harm to anyone.
In the week since Walsh launched her change.org petition, “Let’s Change the Way Schools View Pepper Spray,” more than 3,000 people have signed on.
Walsh wrote in the petition, “Let’s prevent this from happening to another girl trying to be safe in a dangerous world. Without shame or guilt or embarrassment, women are entitled to feel safe.”
Walsh said she’d like for pepper spray to be classified differently than guns or knives.
Pepper spray contains capsaicin, which is derived from chili peppers, and is legal to carry in Pennsylvania.
But the PCCD says chemical agents, like pepper spray and mace, are not permitted at school events
Walsh is co-president of the high school debate team and the Women’s Student Union, and has participated in school musicals since fifth grade.
After graduation, she plans to attend Community College of Allegheny County.
She has attended classes remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the school district’s decision has further upended a senior school year disrupted by the virus, she said.
Walsh isn’t sure if she will attend her commencement.
She said she was encouraged by the response her petition has generated.
“Young women should be able to feel safe going to and from school and school functions,” she said.