12-year-old boy took out a toy gun in an online lesson: the school called the police to his house

A school in Colorado called police at the home of a 12-year-old black boy and suspended him from school after allegedly brandishing a toy gun during an online lesson. BuzzFeed.

Photo: Shutterstock

On August 27, the third day of school, Isaiah Elliott, a seventh grader at Grand Mountain School in Colorado Springs, took an online art class. His mother, Dani Elliott, told BuzzFeed News that at one point during the lesson, her son took a neon green toy gun and moved it from one side of his computer screen to the other.

Elliott said Isaiah often has trouble concentrating during class because he has attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She said the school is “well aware” of her son's ADHD diagnosis and that Isaiah has an IEP (Individualized Education Program).

At the end of the lesson, Elliott received an email from her son's art teacher, in which she noted that Isaiah was "extremely distracted" during the lesson. It also said there was a "very serious problem with waving the toy gun," which the teacher reported to the school's deputy principal, according to Eliot.

Shortly after receiving the email, Elliott said that she had received a call from Deputy Headmaster Keri Lindaman and told her that she had called school counselors from the El Paso County Sheriff's office to have Isaiah physically examined at the family's home.

“I already explained to the teacher that it was a toy,” Elliott said. “I told [Lindaman] it was a toy.” She admitted that she knew about it, but Isaiah's safety was of paramount importance."

Elliott said she couldn't believe the school officials had escalated the situation without informing her or her husband.

“An hour and a half after receiving [the teacher’s] email, I found out the police were on their way,” she said.

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According to an edited copy of the incident report, the teacher told Lindaman that "she assumed it was a toy gun, but was not sure."

At that time, one of her son's classmates was also at their home for virtual lessons.

After the Deputy Director's call, Elliott told her husband, Curtis Eliott, who briefly left the house, to "turn around and go straight home."

"I had to think logically, 'How can I protect my son, what can I force him to do [when] playing with a toy in the privacy of his own home is a threat?' Elliott said.

When El Paso County Sheriff's officers arrived at the family's home, they showed her husband footage of the incident they had seen in the deputy director's office and recorded on their body cameras.

Elliott said she didn’t see the video because the school refused to provide her with the tape, but the woman didn’t know that the school was recording online lessons without notifying her parents, and that she would never agree to it.

Both her husband and Lindaman told her that the only thing Isaiah did was take the gun off the couch and move it from one side of the screen to the other.

In a statement posted to Facebook, the school said there were "several inaccuracies" circulated on social media about the "incident that occurred during distance learning," but declined to provide details, citing privacy laws.

“We will never tolerate any form of racism or discrimination,” the statement said. “Safety will always be a priority for our students and staff.”

The school said it was not “our current practice” of recording lessons, but added that their distance learning platform has a recording function.

“During our first week of school we were still getting familiar with the platform,” the school said.

Isaiah's formal suspension notice Elliot sent to BuzzFeed News said he was guilty of “violating district or building policies or procedures” and “conduct on or off school property that was detrimental to welfare, safety and security. or the morality of other students or school staff. "

“Isaiah displayed and brandished a replica firearm during a virtual lesson on August 27, 2020,” the document states.

Despite the incident taking place at their home, Elliott said the 5-day suspension notice was written as if Isaiah brought a toy gun to school and prevented others from learning.

“This could potentially affect his future... look at everything that's going on in the world today,” Elliott said. “God forbid something happens to my son in the future, people might look at this and decide that he doesn’t deserve justice.” I know that sounds extreme... it's a very real reality for us."

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Eliott said she was afraid that law enforcement officers would come to their home for her son because Isaiah was the same age as Tamir Rice, who was shot by police in 2014 while playing with a toy gun in a park in front of his family's house. ...

“Parents of African-American children do everything they can to protect their children and secure their future,” she said. “As long as you haven't lived this life and experienced the discrimination and hardships of being born a certain skin color... I thank God that it didn't go the other way and my son is still here with me.” .

Although Isaiah's suspension ended on Friday, September 4, Elliott stated that she “had no intention of getting him back,” and will formally drop him out of school on Tuesday, September 8. She said he is currently in line at a charter school, and she has reached out to child advocacy groups for resources to help Isaiah continue to study at home.

“I thought I had toys at home and it wasn’t a problem,” she said. “It never occurred to me that toys could be seen as a threat.”

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