Kid who found a knife in a used backpack suspended for turning it in at school

Kyler Davies is in the seventh grade in the Coldwater Community Schools district in Coldwater, MI; his mom buys her kids (whom she fosters) some of their school supplies used at Goodwill, including Kyler's backpack, which turned out to have a knife in it.

Kyler turned the knife in to a school counsellor, and was suspended from school under the district's zero-tolerance rules. Coldwater Superintendent Terry Boguth defended suspending the child because the rules said he could: "discipline procedures are in our student handbook and are consistent with Coldwater Community Schools Board of Education policies which comply with the current laws of the State of Michigan regarding student discipline."


Davies says, per school rules, the incident meant an automatic one year suspension–a punishment that was later knocked down to 30 school days.

The issue wasn't just contained to he classroom; it also spilled over on to the football field. Davies tells us the school tried to keep her son from playing football.

"The school told me he could not go on their property, he could not play; he can't ride the bus with his team because it's a Coldwater bus," she said.

We spoke with Coldwater Rocket Football, the organization that runs the local football program. It is independent of the district and tells us the school wanted the rocket program to kick Kyler off the team, but they refused.


Branch Co. mother says son was suspended from school after reporting knife
[Brittany Gray/WWMT]


(via Reddit)