VENTRY, R.I. - "The superintendent... (said) Saturday he will work to change the policy to allow such apparel. (He) said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the no-weapons policy shouldn't limit student expression, especially when students are depicting "tools of a profession or service," such as the military or police. "The event exposed how a policy meant to ensure safe environments for students can become restrictive and can present an image counter to the work of our schools to promote patriotism and democracy," Di Pietro (the superintendent) said."
The really cool part? "... On Friday, the boy received a medal from Lt. Gen. Reginald Centracchio, the retired head of the Rhode Island National Guard. Centracchio said Morales should be thanked for recognizing veterans and soldiers. "You did nothing wrong, and you did an outstanding job," Centracchio told the boy."
Not to rehash the whole article, but they are still missing the larger point, which to me is all "zero-tolerance" policies force school administrators and faculty into a corner and remove their ability to judge incidents on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, the super fails to see that the tiny plastic Army men are NOT weapons... they are holding tiny plastic representations of weapons! (FACEPALM)
BUT, I will believe the change in policy when I see it. My cynical side thinks the administration there is trying to take the heat off of them by shooting out this spin control. If it happens though, great start. Now it needs to happen across the country. We can all hope.
