The decision comes as a relief to Ann Arundel County Schools, which views it as vindication for it’s handling of the case. Welch’s parents, however, are understandably not satisfied by the ruling, as it opens the way to Joshua being negatively affected because of this one excessive punishment for a completely harmless activity:
The story stirred up controversy nationwide, WJZ’s Rick Ritter explains, while his parents demanded the suspension be taken off his record.
“It was blue and it was a rectangular one, a cherry one,” Josh Welch said.
It’s the world’s most controversial pastry — one that ripped through national headlines.
“It wasn’t a big deal to him. He figured it could go bang bang and he was just playing around,” his father, B.J. Welch, said.
In March of 2013, second grader Joshua Welch chewed his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun and pretended to fire it. Park Elementary School suspended him for two days, leaving his parents outraged.
“I don’t see a reason for it to be there, and that’s been my goal since day one,” his father said.
After a three year battle, an Anne Arundel County circuit court judge has ruled the boy’s actions were disruptive and that a suspension was appropriate.
“No violence, no real weapon, no ammunition,” the family’s attorney, Robin Ficker, said.
Ficker says there is no reason why the school shouldn’t just reverse the suspension.
“It will be on his record in school and every time he goes into a new grade. There’s a presumption he did something wrong and he’s a bad kid,” said Ficker.
Officials with Anne Arundel County Schools have always said Josh’s behavior wasn’t a one-time deal. They say there were 20 documented incidents before he was even suspended.
They released a statement, saying in part: “We have believed from the outset that the actions of the school staff were not only appropriate and consistent, but in the best interests of all students.”
Ficker says his next move is to appeal, and even though the school continues to hold its ground, he will keep firing away.
Source: CBS
This is just ridiculous!
Oh this is silly, when I was a kid we used to run around with cap guns all the time, and we all turned out fine.
This is insane !
This summary of the case fails to mention that the boy had a long history of aggressive and disruptive behavior in the classroom, including punching another student in the nose and throwing a chair. Nor does is mention that after making the gun shape in class, the boy yelled out, “Look! I made a gun!” and then proceeded to use it and “pow” noises to “shoot” students who were sitting at their desks and at passersby in the hall. School officials had already tried a string of interventions; suspension was the final straw. Thank goodness the rest of the class was able to enjoy a calmer, more studious environment for two days without the boy present. No doubt he caused disruptions every day, carving in to instruction time. Reporting on this site should be thorough. It should not take bits and pieces of a story and publish them out of context in an attempt to feed readers what they want to hear. Doing so in this case casts doubt on every article on this site.