By Karenlyn Barone
On June 12, a 16-year-old East Rockaway high school student, whose name was not released because he is a minor, brought a pellet gun to school and unintentionally shot a teacher in the arm. Although the teacher was not seriously injured, criminal charges were filed.
In response to the incident, the school district has taken definitive action and decided to carry out their zero-tolerance policy. According to the student's mother, who did not want to be identified, her child has been suspended from school for one full year. Although district officials refused to comment on this case specifically, Assistant Principal James DeTommaso said, "This is a student who was not a behavior problem, nor had [the student] been in trouble before. This involved a good kid who just made a bad choice."
The student's mother was horrified that the district would decide to enforce a policy, which she says is ignored for other incidences.
"I feel that the district is making an example of my child," she said. "I told the district that the punishment was too harsh. It's a little excessive."
The student will be provided with a private tutor a few hours a day for the next year, so that academics will not suffer. The student is also banned from participating in any extra-curricular activities, including team sports.
Although area schools purport to have zero-tolerance polices, it appears to be an exception when the policy is enforced. In the May 7 incident involving a group of younger children at Marion Street School yard in Lynbrook, where a child produced a pellet gun and shot another child in the leg, no criminal charges were filed. The gun was returned to the parents of the child, who reportedly destroyed the gun. Because it happened on school grounds, the incident was referred to school Superintendent Bill Metkiff, who issued a board approved punishment.
Neither the superintendent nor the board is free to discuss the particulars of any case involving a student, but district parents received word of the punishment through word of mouth. Allegedly, the mischievous child only received a two-day suspension.
"I sent a letter to Metkiff telling him of my dissatisfaction," said Lynbrook resident and elementary school parent, Sean Strife. "Lynbrook missed a great opportunity to send a message out to students who might consider similar misconduct. Giving out a two-day suspension rather than a year's expulsion sent the wrong message out to the students. I give the school district credit for addressing the issue, but I really felt that the punishment was too light."
It is not likely that the issue of zero-tolerance enforcement will be challenged again. More children than ever appear to be making bad choices where pellet guns are concerned. There have been several incidences reported in the last few months through the Fourth Precinct's Police crime blotter and local schools have received telephone calls from residents describing pellet gun mischief on their neighborhood streets.
"We did get a call that some children were shooting pellets at cars, but it was never confirmed whether or not those involved were students of the district," said DeTommaso. "We did call local stores and asked for their cooperation restricting the sale of pellet guns, but they were not as cooperative as we had hoped."
While no area stores would sell a pellet gun to a 13-year-old who went undercover for the Herald, it was because the stores said they had sold out of the guns, not necessarily because of his age. One local Lynbrook convenience store owner who sells pellet guns said he sells guns to anyone over the age of three.
