Alonzo
05-13-2008, 05:16 PM
SPRING, Texas -- A 9-year-old on a Spring Independent School District bus held up a small kitchen knife to his throat, cut into the back of a seat and held the knife up to another child's throat, according to a video KPRC Local 2 obtained Monday.
The video also showed the 9-year-old grabbing the other student's neck.
KPRC Local 2 spoke with a woman who works for the district. She did not want her identity revealed because it could mean losing her job, but she said she wants people to know what happened while students were on their way home from Burchett Elementary on May 6.
"I was very disturbed by it, very frightened," she said. "There were a lot of kids on the bus that day that were scared, and you could tell by their body language."
The video showed that student also pointed the knife at three girls sitting behind him.
"It was very scary to think what if there would have been a bump on the bus and he would have slipped," the woman said. "Just a slip could have cost another child's life."
She said the district did not handle the incident well. She said parents still had not been notified as of Monday, and staff had to find out for themselves.
"I have not heard anything from administrators about this situation period," she said.
According to the school district, there were two students involved. Officials said both students were suspended from school for an unspecified number of days and will not be in class with the general population for the rest of the school year. They have also been removed from the bus.
"He's still on campus. How's that doing enough?" asked the Spring ISD employee. "I don't think it's fair that students go to school scared. You should be able to come to school and feel safe."
Administrators said the only stricter punishment would have been expulsion, but that was "not an option for their age group". They could not press criminal charges because both students were under the age of 10, and the small kitchen knife is not considered a prohibited weapon.
The district would not say why a second student was disciplined, or if that child received the same punishment as the one in the video.
http://www.click2houston.com/news/16250507/detail.html
The video also showed the 9-year-old grabbing the other student's neck.
KPRC Local 2 spoke with a woman who works for the district. She did not want her identity revealed because it could mean losing her job, but she said she wants people to know what happened while students were on their way home from Burchett Elementary on May 6.
"I was very disturbed by it, very frightened," she said. "There were a lot of kids on the bus that day that were scared, and you could tell by their body language."
The video showed that student also pointed the knife at three girls sitting behind him.
"It was very scary to think what if there would have been a bump on the bus and he would have slipped," the woman said. "Just a slip could have cost another child's life."
She said the district did not handle the incident well. She said parents still had not been notified as of Monday, and staff had to find out for themselves.
"I have not heard anything from administrators about this situation period," she said.
According to the school district, there were two students involved. Officials said both students were suspended from school for an unspecified number of days and will not be in class with the general population for the rest of the school year. They have also been removed from the bus.
"He's still on campus. How's that doing enough?" asked the Spring ISD employee. "I don't think it's fair that students go to school scared. You should be able to come to school and feel safe."
Administrators said the only stricter punishment would have been expulsion, but that was "not an option for their age group". They could not press criminal charges because both students were under the age of 10, and the small kitchen knife is not considered a prohibited weapon.
The district would not say why a second student was disciplined, or if that child received the same punishment as the one in the video.
http://www.click2houston.com/news/16250507/detail.html