HB 120 to Give School Boards Discretion with No Tolerance Provision

Lawmakers are looking to give school officials more flexibility for Delaware’s “no tolerance” weapon provision.

On Tuesday, Rep. Teresa L. Schooley, D-Newark, introduced House Bill 120 which would give school boards the discretion to modify the terms of expulsion or determine that expulsion is not appropriate on a case-by-case basis.

“I am in no way making light of the situation of children bringing weapons to school, but I think adults know the difference between a weapon and a knife being used to cut a cake,” Rep. Schooley said. “Because the law is so strict and there’s no room for discretion, families are placed into difficult situations where they have to get a lawyer to fight expulsion.

This new bill was a reaction to the incident reported by the News Journal of an 11-year old student at May B. Leasure Elementary School in Bear, who brought in a serrated knife with a cake and cupcakes she wanted to share with her class. After the teacher cut the cake with the knife, she reported the student for bringing a deadly weapon.

The child was suspended for five days. Under Christina School District’s policy, she also faced expulsion.

Rep. Schooley added, “The way the law is written, it automatically escalates a situation to something that no one wants. Not only is a child faced with the trauma of everything, but the family is forced to gather its resources to defend the child.”

House Bill 120, which has 16 co-sponsors in the House, has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.