Johnston School Board Not Playing Fair??

David "Cole" Withrow is a Princeton High School honors student who was arrested Monday and charged with a felony for having a shotgun in his truck in the school parking lot. Sources told ABC11 the Eagle Scout forgot it was still in the truck after skeet shooting over the weekend.
Once he remembered, he used the phone in the school office to call his mom. Administrators overheard him, and he was arrested and expelled.
ABC11 has uncovered that two school officials both brought guns onto school property in recent years, but were never charged with felonies like Cole.
An assistant principal at Cole's school was suspended for three days, but never criminally charged. She still works in the same position at the school.
"I think it's wrong, if an assistant principal can bring a loaded handgun and doesn't get punished? No, unacceptable," parent Nancy Terry said.
A teacher at another high school in the school district was cited and resigned.
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This is a circus and "Cole" is being treated unfairly.

 

Not only is this unfair, but it teaches the lesson to other students not to be honest. This kid was trying to do the right thing, and is now paying the price for it.

 

The school board needs a swift kick in the @#$%. :banghead:

http://www.change.org/petitions/joh...&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition


Not sure what good it will do, but there is a petition to have him back in school.

I understand perfectly that the kid is in the wrong, however, it seems absolutely stupid to ruin his life over an honest mistake. Especially since an adult who did something similar was just suspended. It's infuriating!

 

A key here - As I understand it, the law states "knowingly and willfully" which he did neither. This is a travesty of justice that needs to be corrected as quickly as possible.
I have signed the on-line petition to the school board. I have heard there is also one to the Governor. If anyone has a link to it, I would appreciate them posting it here!!!

 

This one is the petition to the governor.

 

THANKS!!!!

 

Thanks to kdc for posting it here!! :cheers:

 

Yep. Thanks to P. Also.

 

Let me begin my post with a caveat that I believe the kid should NOT have been charged. He should be returned to school and allowed to graduate with the rest of his classmates. I completely disagree with zero tolerance policies as they, by definition, can never take into account extenuating circumstances.

That having been said, I was reading the article on WRAL and they did mention that assistant principal (and a resource officer) who were suspended for three days without pay. The article mentioned that that instance happened two years ago.

The article also quoted Johnston County schools spokeswoman Tracey Peedin Jones who said the school system has to follow mandated state law regarding weapons on campus. They do take into account the circumstances when possible, but in this case the rules are mandated by the state.

So my point is, I guess, is that maybe a new law came into effect in the two years since the assistant principal was suspended and now. That would certainly explain why the discrepancy between the punishment the staff got and the punishment the student got.

Just my two cents.

 

He can graduate!! Yay!! Now to get the charges dropped and let him move on with his life!!

Just In: David Cole Winthrow, a Princeton High School senior who says he inadvertently brought an unloaded shotgun onto school property, will be allowed to graduate, an attorney for Johnston County Schools says.
Keep up with breaking news at http://www.wral.com/

 

:hurray::hurray:

 

Crap...spoke too soon, sorry. They are apparently offering him alternative school.

 

According to Wake County's website (Cannot find JoCo handbook online) This was adopted in Aug of 1998. I can't see why JoCo would have waited 12 or 13 years.

 

Good point (about knowingly and willingly).

But happy to hear the good news. Now to just get the charges dropped.

 

Let me start by saying I don't feel this student should be facing felony charges. He made a mistake, he tried to correct it. I applaud him for being honest and not trying to hide his mistake. However, and I may be in the minority on this, he had a responsibility to NOT bring a gun onto school property. He's not a 1st grader and he did know better. Regardless of how smart he is, how much community service he has performed, he had a gun in his truck at school. That very easily could have turned into a horrible situation. Just because someone seems "good" doesnt mean he is. The police should have been called, if for no other reason than to make sure it was safely removed. Again, felony charges are ridiculous, and hopefully they wont stick, but this student did do something wrong in forgetting to remove the gun from his truck before leaving for school that morning and he should face some kind of disciplinary action.

 

Have you never forgotten anything? It doesn't take a first grader to forget something. Safely removed before something happened? It was unloaded.

 

I have forgotten things, and I have also paid the consequences for that mistake. And should a student be taken at his word when he says his gun isn't loaded? No one has ever lied before? I'm not saying he belongs in jail, or that his future should be ruined because of this mistake, but I don't think nothing should happen either.

 

Get your story right.

 

I think that would be absolutely fair, even a few days of detention would be fine.

 

Point taken...WRAL at their finest and I fell for it.