A 12-year-old Colorado boy was suspended from school and had the cops called on him after his teacher saw him “waving” a toy gun in front of the computer screen during his virtual lesson.
What We Know:
- A 12-year-old boy was suspended from his Colorado school for five days and had the police sent to his home after his teacher saw him “waving” a toy gun in front of the computer screen during his virtual class.
- According to BuzzFeed News, the boy, Isaiah Elliot, is a seventh-grader at Grand Mountain School in Colorado Springs. Isaiah was attending his virtual art class when the teacher saw him with a neon green toy gun that his mother, Dani Elliot, said he was transporting from one side of the computer to the other. After class ended, Elliot received an email from her son’s art teacher saying he had been “extremely distracted” during the lesson. Isaiah has been known to have difficulty concentrating in class because he has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which the school is fully aware of, and has an IEP (Individualized Education Program) plan on file.
- The teacher informed Elliot that she informed the vice principal of Grand Mountain School of the incident and vice-principal Keri Lindaman informed her that resource officers from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office were going to come to the house to do a health and wellness check on Isaiah. Elliot told BuzzFeed News that she was appalled that they would escalate the situation before addressing her or her husband.
- “I had already explained to the teacher that it was a toy,” Elliot said. “I told (Lindaman) that it was a toy. She admitted that she knew it was a toy but Isaiah’s safety was of the utmost importance….an hour and a half after receiving (the teacher’s) email, I found out that the police were on their way.”
- The school released a statement on Facebook saying there were “several inaccuracies being spread on social media” regarding the incident but they haven’t mentioned any specifics. The incident was recorded and Elliot says she didn’t know that the school was allowed to record and was denied the right to see the video.
- Isaiah’s suspension notice said that he was guilty of “violation of district or building policies or procedures” and “behavior on or off school property which is detrimental to the welfare, safety, or morals of other pupils or school personnel”. Elliot said that the suspension notice was written as though her son brought the toy gun to school. Isaiah’s suspension ended on Friday but Elliot said that she doesn’t intend for him to return and said that he is currently on the waiting list at a charter school.
Isaiah’s mom also said that she feared the situation would take a turn for the worse to where her son ended up like Tamir Rice, who, at the same age as Isaiah, was shot dead in 2014 by police while playing with a toy gun.
