Sachse High student faces discipline over forgotten knife
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, November 2, 2008
Ashley Wiener thought she might get some flak for leaving her 1986 Toyota Camry parked overnight at Sachse High School. But she never imagined a knife that her boyfriend left in the car would turn her junior year into a nightmare.
Ashley, 16, and her mom, Christine Omar, say the knife – or what they call a sword – is for decorative purposes only and was going to be used as a prop at a friend's haunted house.
"I was shocked because I didn't think there was anything in there until I remembered, 'Oh no, he left his knife in the car,' " Ashley said. "I was upset. I was crying. I didn't know what to do because I hadn't been in trouble like that before."
The knife landed Ashley in Garland ISD's alternative education campus for students with disciplinary problems. This means 32 days away from her regular classes and teachers. She and her mother say the district's zero-tolerance policy defies the common sense that should be applied to a good student who makes an innocent mistake.
Garland ISD officials would not talk about Ashley's case but said they are following district policies and state law.
According to police reports, a Garland school district security guard spotted the car in the high school parking lot about 4 a.m. on Oct. 23. The car was locked and unoccupied, but the security guard noticed an 11-inch silver-colored knife on the floor of the front passenger side. Later that day, the school placed a boot on the car.
Ashley said she left the car at the school the day before because it wouldn't start. She said her father meant to have the car towed the next day but never got around to it. On Oct. 23, she stayed home from school because she was sick.
When she returned to school on Friday, school officials pulled her out of class to question her. Sachse police were there, too.
Before long, she was riding in the back of a police car headed to police headquarters. Police detained her on the basis of possessing an "illegal knife" in a public school's "weapons-free zone."
School district officials say the punishment is justified.
"Any student that brings an illegal knife is subject to the Texas Penal Code," said Garland ISD spokesman Reavis Wortham.
Under the Texas Penal Code, an "illegal knife" is described as a knife with a blade over 5 ½ inches designed to cut or stab another by being thrown. Under the Texas Education Code, a student faces mandatory expulsion if the student uses, exhibits or possesses an "illegal knife" on school property. If expelled, a student has to attend the Dallas County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program.
But Ashley, who writes for her school paper and makes good grades, may not end up there. Ms. Omar, Ashley and Ashley's boyfriend met with school officials last Wednesday to plead their case. They argue that the knife was not meant to harm anyone and was left unintentionally in Ashley's car.
They have another meeting scheduled with school officials on Tuesday.
On Friday, Mr. Wortham said school officials were still reviewing the incident and could make a decision in the next few days.
"We're looking into whether or not it was an illegal knife or a costume prop," Mr. Wortham said. "We are trying to be as fair as we possibly can."
However, Ashley could still face a more severe punishment if Sachse police forward their case to the Dallas County district attorney's office. Lt. Marty Cassidy, a Sachse police spokesman, said his department is still reviewing the case.
Carrying an unlawful weapon is considered a Class A misdemeanor.
"But because it was in a weapons-free zone – a school – it's bumped up to the next class, which is a state jail felony," Lt. Cassidy said.
A state jail felony is punishable by a maximum of two years in a state jail and/or a fine not to exceed $10,000.
Ashley's mom, Ms. Omar, said zero-tolerance policies at school have gone too far.
"I don't think administrators realize they do have latitude to show mercy," she said.