When 6-year-old Zachary Christie was suspended for five days and ordered to attend a reform school for bringing a combination knife-fork-spoon to first grade, his mother reacted by keeping the child home for the duration of the punishment, or at least until she could appeal the judgment.
But while Zachary was home being educated by his mother, he ran afoul of the rules again when he went into the kitchen for a mid-morning snack.
Debbie Christie, Zachary's mother tells what happened next. "Zachary grabbed a butter knife from the dish drain to spread some peanut butter on a few crackers. It was in our kitchen. In our house. And that's when the door crashed open."
Delaware schools operate under a zero-tolerance program. Any student who brings a weapon to school or is found in possession of a weapon, will be suspended from school for five days.
Although Zachary was currently being home schooled, the same rules continue to apply. When Zachary handled that butter knife, he again violated the rules.
Unknown to the Christie's, the Christina School District was monitoring Zachary, and at the point of the second violation, law enforcement broke into the home and wrestled the knife from out of his hand. And the crackers were thrown to the floor and smashed into crumbs.
And now that Zachary is under suspension again, he is unable to remain in the home, which was also his school. "This is ridiculous," Debbie Christie said of the situation. "Now Zachary has to sleep out in the back yard in a cardboard box. The school won't let him come in the house for four more days."
"In truth," the school spokesperson said, "Zachary is allowed back into the home after school hours. He only needs to remain in the cardboard box for part of the day and for nap time. And he's allowed to pee anywhere in the backyard he wants. And what little boy doesn't love that?"
the above is mostly made up: original un-madeup story is here.
