Carthage student receives one-year suspension for shooting air soft gun

The parents of Carthage High School student Stefan Hukill, suspended for one year for shooting an airsoft gun at school are protesting the suspension:

In a letter to Hukill's mother, Superintendent Gary Reed said the student had violated school policy by possessing and firing an airsoft gun at another student on or adjacent to school property. He said district policy called for a 10-day suspension, with a recommendation for long-term suspension or expulsion. He said Kandy Frazier, then assistant principal, had suspended the student for 10 days, starting May 10, and would recommend an additional suspension.

"Based on the serious nature of Stefan's misconduct, the potential danger to himself and other students, and the possession and use of a weapon," Reed said he had affirmed the 10-day suspension and extended the suspension to one year. In addition, he said he had determined that Stefan "poses a continuing danger" and barred him from school pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.

In information prepared for the appeal hearing, Lasley said the decision meant that Hukill missed final examinations his junior year. He said the yearlong suspension was unreasonable and, if upheld, would mean that his client would be prevented from attending his senior year and graduating with his classmates.

Lasley said the incident was "a prank," and that Stefan shot a friend one time with a plastic, spring-operated airsoft gun that shoots round, plastic or rubber balls about the size of a pencil eraser. He said the incident happened on Main Street near the high school during the open lunch period. He said the friend was not hurt and lodged no complaint, and that no report on the incident was made by Sgt. Vann Bennett, school resource officer with the Carthage Police Department.

Lasley said the incident "is not on a par with a firearms violation,"
and that an airsoft gun is not listed among the weapons cited in school policies and regulations. He said the gun is see-through plastic, and the barrel is tipped in orange to distinguish it from a real weapon. He said the gun "obviously is not a firearm as described in school regulations and by the gun-free requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act."