Boy’s Suspension on Gun Charge Appealed

Seven-year-old Michael Gonzalez knew he wasn’t supposed to bring toys to school.

That’s why the second-grader at Tarzana Elementary School made sure to tuck the tiny toy gun attached to a key chain deep into his sweatshirt pocket.

But when the inch-long toy--about the size of a pink school eraser--fell from a hole in his pocket and his classmates told a playground staffer, Michael knew he was going to get into trouble. Scared, Michael wrapped the toy in a piece of aluminum foil to hide it.

By bringing the toy gun to school and concealing it, Michael was found to have violated the Los Angeles Unified School District’s zero-tolerance policy on weapons possession and was suspended for part of a school day Nov. 1.

School district officials will hear his case today at L.A. Unified District C headquarters in Van Nuys.

“I am for reasonable zero tolerance,” Michael’s mother, Sabina Gonzalez, said Thursday. “I agree that the child should be immediately removed if the principal finds him an immediate danger to himself or others, but this was not a dangerous object.”

Gonzalez, 35, an executive secretary from Tarzana, appealed the suspension to LAUSD officials. She said she plans to seek legal counsel.

Beyond the suspension, Gonzalez said she was concerned that the incident could become part of her son’s permanent school record, hampering his chances to enroll in academic programs for gifted children or in magnet schools, or eventually to win a college scholarship.

The case highlights the contentious debate over school zero-tolerance policies and mirrors several incidents at schools in Southern California in recent years, including the case of a 10-year-old girl who was suspended from her Mission Viejo elementary school after a toy cap gun on a key chain fell out of her backpack.

Advocates say zero-tolerance policies are necessary to protect students, teachers, staff and administrators from drugs, alcohol, firearms and disruptive behavior on campus.

L.A. Unified officials say students receive a copy of the policy that must be signed by a parent or legal guardian at the start of the school year. School authorities said they have Gonzalez’s signed copy on file.

“Because of the times we live in, we have to take all threats seriously,” said Susan Cox, a school district spokeswoman. “Things that we used to think were nonthreatening are no longer thought of that way. Everything now has taken on a greater magnitude.”

Tarzana Elementary School Principal Roberta McAdam declined to comment on the situation.

Gonzalez said she is challenging the district’s zero-tolerance policy because it penalizes children who make innocent mistakes.

“I know he broke a rule, but his civil rights were violated when he was denied the right to attend school for the rest of the day,” Gonzalez said. “He was ridiculed at school the next day because the other kids considered him a bad kid.”

Gonzalez said she was incredulous when she received a morning telephone call at work from school officials informing her that her son had brought a concealed weapon to school.

Once she saw what school officials were objecting to, Gonzalez realized it was a toy her son had obtained during a trip last summer to his grandparents’ house in New Mexico.

The philosophy behind zero-tolerance policies does not allow for mitigating factors, she said.

“How much noise do we need to make before they realize that zero-tolerance policies are not going to work and that they are only going to make kids give up and flunk out?”