Board policy 8470

[Serpo]

Three-and-a-half year old Hunter Spanjer, who is deaf, signs his name by crossing his forefinger and index finger and moving his hand up and down.
To his family, friends and those who know the Signing Exact English (S.E.E.) (http://www.signingexactenglish.com/) language that the Grand Island, Neb., boy uses, that gesture uniquely means "Hunter Spanjer."
But to Hunter's school district, it might mean something else. The district claims that it violates a rule that forbids anything in the school that looks like a weapon, reports KOLN-TV (http://www.1011now.com/home/headlines/Grand-Island-Preschooler-Forbidden-Sign-Language-for-His-Own-Name-167394325.html).
And Hunter's parents claim that Grand Island Pubic Schools administrators have asked them to change their son's sign language name.
"Anybody that I have talked to thinks this is absolutely ridiculous," Hunter's grandmother Janet Logue told the TV station. "This is not threatening in any way."
Hunter's father Brian Spanjer said, "It's a symbol. It's an actual sign, a registered sign, through S.E.E."
The family told KOLN that lawyers from the National Association of the Deaf may push for Hunter's right to sign his name at the school.
Jack Sheard, Grand Island Public Schools spokesperson told KOLN, "We are working with the parents to come to the best solution we can for the child."
One Grand Island resident said she disagrees with the school.
"I find it very difficult to believe that the sign language that shows his name resembles a gun in any way would even enter a child's mind," Fredda Bartenbach said in the news report.


http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/school-asks-deaf-preschooler-change-sign-language-name-191629255.html

[joboo]

Congratulations. This is more effing retarded than dressing up in a bigfoot suit, and getting run over on the highway.

Firing the school board employees is an option, but euthanasia would be infinitely more humane.

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/rackitt/eternal-facepalm-eternal-facepalm-facepalm-captain-pickard-demotivational-poster-1242264259.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/rackitt/?action=view&current=eternal-facepalm-eternal-facepalm-facepalm-captain-pickard-demotivational-poster-1242264259.jpg)

[vacuum]

This is pretty much on par with those schools that dictate that pi is exactly equal to 3.14.

[DMac]

Why come you don't have a tattoo?

[gunDriller]

This is pretty much on par with those schools that dictate that pi is exactly equal to 3.14.

i remember the 3.14159 part.

also i think there's a '732' in there somewhere.

of course, 22/7 works pretty good too.

[TheNocturnalEgyptian]

This prompts the question, why does the school consider itself a valid authority to decide what type of sign language is appropriate? Are they weapons experts? Are they sign language experts? Clearly they are neither. Why would we listen to them at all? Why would Mr. Hunter?

[k-os]

This prompts the question, why does the school consider itself a valid authority to decide what type of sign language is appropriate? Are they weapons experts? Are they sign language experts? Clearly they are neither. Why would we listen to them at all? Why would Mr. Hunter?

They're not weapons experts, otherwise they might know that a child's fingers are not deadly weapons just because they make a shape or motion like a weapon. Good grief. Who is the child in this story, really? That poor kid is being made to feel ashamed of his name and his condition, because some adults couldn't act like adults.