Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Fifth Grader Given ALS For Pulling Knife At GMS

By JOHN MILLER

For the third time this month, Gurdon's School Board had to determine the academic fate of one of its students.

This time, the board had to discuss punishment for a fifth grader at Gurdon Middle School, who allegedly pulled a knife on an eighth grade student.

The incident occurred Nov. 12 around 3 p.m. when a female eighth grade student was going walking with a friend, according to reports filed at the Gurdon Police Department.

At the time, the boy came up to them and, the report states, started trying to strike the girl, hitting her two or three times in the face.

According to the report, she told him she didn't want to hit him because he was smaller than her, but would if he continued in his attack.

She reportedly moved toward him, causing him to run to the band building, where he allegedly pulled a multi-purpose knife and asked if she "wanted to mess with me now."

According to the report, she told him it wasn't smart to pull a knife on school property, when he allegedly came toward her and started "poking" the knife at her.

She began backing up, telling him she was going inside to tell a teacher about the incident, when he ran off, the report states.

The board heard these allegations, with GMS Principal Jeff Alexander handing board members copies of the district's policies concerning students with weapons on campus.

Alexander informed the panel he was not present on campus when this incident occurred, but learned of it the next morning.

He said when questioning all involved, the girl had a witness to back up her story, while the boy changed his story more than once.

Alexander said the boy first denied having a knife, then admitted to it, while the boy's witness had told him the boy had a knife.

The GMS principal recommended the student be expelled from school for the remainder of the year because of his actions.

The boy, telling his story to the board, said he had found the knife in the parking lot in front of the gym.

He said he and his friend ran into the girl, who started the altercation by asking what he was looking at.

He told the board he and his friend went off to look at the knife when she walked up on them, saw it and told for no reason. He also denied there being bad blood between he and the girl.

Alexander said this was not the story he gave on Nov. 13. According to Alexander, the boy said he had the knife and he and the girl were fussing down a sidewalk when he went to a picnic table.

The principal told the board the girl was still mouthing off as she walked up on the boy at a picnic table, when he pulled the knife.

She, Alexander said, told him she was telling a teacher and he left.

When questioned about the whereabouts of the knife, the boy said he had left it on the gym bleachers while playing ball and forgot about it and no longer knew where it was.

He also admitted knowing it was against the rules to have a knife at school. He told the board he had found it and was planning to take it home.

Alexander said the boy and girl had been having problems with one another for more than a week before this incident.

He told the board of the student's disciplinary problems, including being sent to detention four times as a fourth grader for disrupting class, going to "D" hall for hitting another student last year, and being sent to ISS twice.

Alexander said this student has a history of violent and disruptive behavior.

When questioned by board member Stan Escalante, the boy denied hitting the girl, saying she first called him a name.

The boy's witness said the boy did not make any overt gestures with the knife and had heard the girl call the boy a name.

The boy's mother said Alexander had pressured the boy's witness into saying the boy had attempted to stab at the girl. She also asked how the board could take the girl's word over the word of her son when the girl nor her witness were at the meeting.

The board went into executive session after hearing the stories from the boy and Alexander.

When the meeting resumed, Alexander again recommended the student be expelled for one physical year, according to the handbook.

However, members Charles Hatley and David Williams differed in their opinions, voting against expulsion. Jesse Runyan and Escalante voted in favor of the expulsion.

During the hearing, only four members were present, though the other three arrived for the regular meeting later on. So, the two-two vote required an alternative punishment.

Hatley recommended the boy be placed in the district's Alternative Learning School for the remainder of they year. Should the student get in any other trouble for the rest of the academic year, he will be expelled.