A 4th grader who was expelled for two years for taking a pellet gun to a suburban Chicago school must be provided tutoring by the school district, a Cook County circuit judge has decided.
Judge David Donnersberger ruled on Aug. 25 that Illinois’ 1,700-student Consolidated Community School District 168 must provide the 9-year-old with two hours of daily instruction while a lawsuit filed by the boy’s grandmother seeking his reinstatement as a student is pending.
The district expelled the boy in March for two years—the maximum length of time allowed under state law—after he took the gun into Strassburg Elementary School. The student said he carried the weapon to protect himself from two boys who were harassing him.
Eugene Edwards, a lawyer with the Legal Assistance Foundation for Metropolitan Chicago who represents the student, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
