4th Grader Suspended After BB Gun Displayed During Virtual Class

A Louisiana fourth-grader has been suspended from school after a BB gun was noticed in his bedroom while the youngster was participating in a virtual class. Ka Mauri Harrison a student at Woodmere Elementary was participating in a virtual class when his younger brother came into his bedroom and tripped on the BB gun.

The fourth-grader took the unloaded weapon and propped it up near his chair. However, the weapon was in plain view of teachers and classmates. By the end of the school day, Ka Mauri's parents had been notified that their child was suspended from school. He could have also been facing expulsion.

That incident took place on September 11th and Tuesday a school system hearing officer upheld the suspension. However, the hearing officer opted to not expel the child from school.

In the story, reported by NOLA.com the actions taken by the Jefferson Parish Public School System are within the policy guidelines that educators and administrators have been following since the coronavirus pandemic began.

As you might imagine the boy's parents are quite upset. In fact, they feel their privacy rights were violated and they are considering legal action against the school system. It might surprise you that this not the first case of children being suspended because of "weapons" seen in virtual classrooms.

The story penned by NOLA.com reporter Faimon Roberts chronicled similar suspensions that happened earlier this month in Colorado and another that happened during a virtual class in New Jersey.

Needless to say, should this go to court, it will be interesting to see how a judge or jury will rule on this incident. The child did not bring a weapon to school The weapon was observed in a private home. The child and the weapon posed no threat to any other student or school personnel. Yet, the incident certainly would qualify as a violation of previously published school policy.

If you were asked to make a ruling in this case, how would you rule?