Student supspended for bow at school

Student suspended for leaving hunting bow in truck

The Associated Press - Friday, October 03, 2008
MILACA, Minn.

A Milaca High School senior is on suspension after leaving his hunting bow in his SUV that was parked at school.

Keith Larson has missed a week and a half of school and can't return to class until Wednesday.

Larson said had been on a hunting trip a few days before the morning he drove to school with his bow and arrow set still sitting in the back of his SUV. He said it was covered up, just sitting in the back end.

"I didn't plan nothing to use it. I just forgot it in the back of my vehicle," he said.

Larson said he reported it to his teacher in his first class as soon as he remembered he had the bow. But she didn't report the bow to administrators right away, he said.

"And then halfway through the last hour of the day the principal came and called me down, and came and took it out of my vehicle, and told me I was getting suspended and possibly expelled," Larson recalled.

Principal Troy Anderson said the school has a strict, zero-tolerance policy, and students know they can't bring weapons to school.

"Our kids at Milaca High School should know what the expectations are," Anderson said. "In my mind is a bow a weapon? In my mind, it is."

The principal would not talk about specifics of the case, but said Larson won't be expelled.

Larson is a football player and captain of the wrestling team, and is nominated to be homecoming king. He said he feels he's been treated harshly, especially since he told his teacher about the bow.

Zero-tolerance policies on weapons are common. Last week, the Anoka-Hennepin School Board voted to put a 17-year-old Blaine High School senior on probation for having a box cutter in his car. Tony Richard will be on probation until the end of the first quarter. Any infractions in the meantime could result in expulsion.