TRI In The News
Kids Suspended for Oregano at School
From WAVY.com
Original article available here.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) - Four Chesapeake middle school students were suspended and could be expelled, because one of them brought oregano to school.
It's not the spice itself, but the way it was presented in a plastic bag that got them into trouble.
It's hard to tell the difference between a bag of marijuana and a bag of oregano.
When a seventh grader filled a bag and brought the kitchen spice with him to Hickory Middle School, he laughed about the resemblance, but the school didn't find it funny.
He and three others got suspended for handling an imitation controlled substance.
"When I went to school what happened when you did something like this, the teacher took it away from you and then told your parents," said Rutherford Institute Founder and Attorney John Whitehead.
Whitehead represents Adam Grass, one of the students who claims he handled the baggie for less than a minute when one student asked him to pass it to another.
"What he passed on was oregano, he did not have any intent to distribute any drug or imitation drug at no time," said Whitehead.
Now Grass' membership into the National Honor Society is at risk.
Whitehead calls this "zero sense for zero tolerance" and claims it's happening across the country.
"It's not just oregano in baggies. Kids have been suspended for bringing butter knives to school or for using their own fingers to play cops and robbers at recess," said Whitehead.
Parents 10 On Your Side spoke to are torn.
"They need to do something. I don't know about suspension, that might be carrying it too far," said parent Brian Powers.
Eva Hodgson, a mother and grandmother, said there are rules for a reason - to protect kids.
"Yeah they knew what they were doing, so what they get is what they get," said Hodgson.
The school would only say that there is an appeals process available.
The Grass family had a meeting scheduled with the school Tuesday afternoon. There is no word yet on how that went.
In the meantime, the Rutherford Institute sent a letter to the school asking for a response by the end of the day.
