St. Paul schools: When is an incident misconduct, and when is it a crime?

pioneer press ^ | 2-23-13 | Mila Koumpilova and Mara H. Gottfried

[TurboZamboni]

One boy, accused of cutting a fellow student with an X-Acto knife, faces a felony assault charge.

Another was charged with assault after kicking a schoolmate in the groin.

Both incidents took place at St. Paul's Ramsey Junior High this school year. In both cases, parents alerted police. The school did not.

Educators have long grappled with the messy task of deciding when student misbehavior calls for school discipline -- or for police action. In recent years, districts in Minnesota and beyond have retooled their approach.

Schools have become increasingly loath to refer students to the juvenile justice system, which can mean saddling youngsters with criminal records and lowering their odds of graduating. In more districts, school resource officers play the role of empathetic advisers rather than uncompromising enforcers.

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[vicar7]

I remember when a teacher tackled my best friend as he was sprinting down the hall to lunch in junior high. It was a bodies flying everywhere tackle. I laughed and it was no harm no foul for my friend. He never ran by that teacher’s door again. Oh by the way, this was in a Saint Paul school.