Community Corner
Fifth-Grader in Cupertino Suspended for Swiss Army Knife
A 10-year-old boy from Garden Gate Elementary School got in big trouble for bringing his Swiss Army knife on a class camping trip.
According to an article in The Daily Caller, a fifth-grader in Cupertino was suspended and threatened with expulsion for bringing a small Swiss Army knife on a school-sponsored, science-oriented camping trip.
In early April, Braden Bandermann’s class went on the Garden Gate Elementary School’s annual, week-long retreat for fifth-graders to the Marin Headlands. Before leaving, he packed his Swiss Army knife.
Find out what's happening in Cupertinowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Bandermann’s father said he called and asked to pick up his son for carrying a weapon.
The school principal, Brandi Hucko, allegedly wanted Bandermann to rush to the site of the science camp, pick Braden up for a one-day suspension and then deliver him back to camp.
Find out what's happening in Cupertinowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to the report, Bandermann believes school officials overreacted.
Garden Gate Elementary’s parent handbook, available on the school’s website, stipulates a stern “zero-tolerance” policy for “violence, weapons, and drugs on school campuses or at school activities off campus.”
The Caller article said that district spokesperson Jeremy Nishihara declined to speak about the incident, saying that it would violate Braden's privacy.
Read the full story in The Daily Caller here.
