Virginia sixth-grader suspended for waiting too long to report classmate who brought bullet to school, family says

The family of an 11-year-old boy said he was suspended from his Virginia Beach, Virginia, school after administrators said he waited too long to report another student who brought a bullet into class.

A lawyer for the family accused St. John the Apostle Catholic School of punishing the sixth-grader when he only wanted to do the right thing.

“They’re like, ‘Thanks for reporting it, now you’re suspended.’ And then it’s like, ‘I did the right thing and now I’m in trouble,'” attorney Tim Anderson said in a phone interview Friday. “They’re ruining this kid’s academic career by suspending his high school record.”

The incident happened last week as the boy’s class was preparing for a standardized test. Anderson said a student pulled out a bullet and showed it to the 11-year-old just before the test began.

The boy was “shocked” but didn’t tell the school principal until about two hours later, Anderson said.

“They did the standardized test. It took about an hour and a half. He then went with the student to another class and as soon as that was over, he went to the principal’s office and told the principal that this other kid had brought a bullet to school,” the attorney explained.

Police were called and officers found the bullet in the student’s bag, Anderson said. The student who had the bullet was suspended for two days.

The 11-year-old boy who filed the complaint was also given a two-day suspension for not immediately reporting what he saw, the lawyer said.

“That was quite shocking to (his) mother, that he would get the exact same punishment as the child who brought the bullet to school. But secondly, that’s not even a criminal offense,” Anderson said.

The boy’s mother, Rachel Wigand, tried to talk to the principal, but the school refused to change its mind about the suspension. The boy was allowed to return to school on Monday.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond said the “culture of safety requires students and adults to report potential threats as quickly as possible once they are made aware of them.”

“In a true emergency, gaps in reporting time can have a significant impact on school safety,” the spokesperson said. “Our policy affirms this expectation, and we take our policy on timely and urgent reporting seriously. As with any disciplinary matter, we view this as an opportunity for students to learn and move forward.”

Michael Riley, the superintendent of Catholic schools, told NBC affiliate WAVY in Portsmouth that the school cannot and will not take any chances when it comes to student safety.

“As part of this mandate, we expect students to bring safety concerns to the immediate attention of school staff, and our school safety policy reinforces this expectation,” he said.

Wigand said her son didn’t immediately tell the teacher during class because he wanted to remain anonymous.

“But the school has squandered that in the way they have handled this,” she said, adding that her son worries about being labeled a “snitch.”

She had to tell him, “You did the right thing. You held your head up high and you let other kids know to report anything they see.”

Anderson said he wants the school to apologize and remove the suspension from the boy’s record. Wigand said she believes schools should train students on ways to report suspicious activity.

“People keep saying, see something, say something, and I agree with that and that’s exactly what my son did,” she said. “We train these kids all the time in active shooter drills. How do we train them to report?”