Boy Suspended For Utensil Gets Reprieve

The Christina School District's board of education made a change Tuesday night to its student code of conduct concerning kindergarteners and first-graders.

And one mother is happy that her son can now officially go back to school.

Board members got an earful from a packed-gymnasium audience during Tuesday night's scheduled public meeting.

Many were there solely because of a zero-tolerance policy that resulted in 6-year-old Zachary Christie being ordered to spend 45 days in an alternative school for bringing a Cub Scout camping utensil -- a combination of folding fork, knife, and spoon -- to John R. Downes Elementary School.

Family says he wanted to eat pudding during lunch with his favorite camping tool.

The punishment is one of several in recent years that have sparked national debate on whether school systems have gone too far with zero-tolerance policies.

"How many people did you expel last year? You don't even see alternative placements," one woman told the board during Tuesday night's meeting.

Zach stayed home from the 7:30 p.m. meeting (held at another school, Porter Road Elementary School) while his mother, Debbie, and her fiance, Lee Irving, attended with a massive show of support.

Christie has argued that the penalty placed upon her son was too harsh and appealed to the board.

"I have yet to find a single study that demonstrates that zero-tolerance policies reduce school violence," Irving told the board.

The seven-member board unanimously passed an amendment to the policy that puts kindergarteners and first-graders in a separate category, reducing the punishment for bringing weapons to school or committing other violent offenses to a suspension ranging from three to five days.

The policy also now allows for teacher judgment to be a factor.

"I think the key now is that the board has demonstrated that they want to always examine and reflect," Superintendent Dr. Marcia Lyles said.

The boy's mother was exhausted from the national exposure but pleased with the board's decision.

"I'm overwhelmed, I'm sure my son is going to be overwhelmed, and I would like to just settle down into my nice, private life now," Christie said.

The change to the code of conduct is retroactive, meaning it will be expunged from Zach's record, and technically he can go back to school Wednesday, if he chooses.

According to his mother, she's going to work with some of the 6-year-old's teachers to ease him back into it, and he's a little nervous, Fox 29's Sean Tobin reported.