State board of education upholds boy’s suspension in pastry gun case

Story here. Excerpt:

'The Maryland State Board of Education upheld the suspension of a boy who chewed his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun, saying the punishment was warranted because of the disruption and other previous misconduct.

The decision, which a lawyer for the family said he would appeal to a circuit court, is the latest development in what has been called “the Pop-Tart case,” which gained national attention in 2013 at a time of widespread rethinking of discipline practices in public schools. Other states have since cited the Maryland case in proposing Pop-Tart gun bills that limit student suspensions for imaginary weapons.

The eight-page state opinion, dated Feb. 24, recounts the child’s string of troubles at Park Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, Md.

“The student in this case had a long history of behavioral problems that were the subject of progressive intervention by the school,” the state board concluded. “He created a classroom disruption on March 1, 2013, which resulted in a suspension that was justified based on the incident in question and the student’s history.”'