Deerfield student suspended for carrying knives

A Deerfield School student has been suspended for bringing a pair of knives to school in a backpack, district officials said Thursday.

The knives and what is thought to be marijuana were found in the backpack of a sixth-grade boy during a search by police on Wednesday.

“One was a pocketknife, and the other had a larger blade,” said Julie Boyle, the district’s director of communications.

She said the boy had been given an immediate five-day suspension pending a mandatory disciplinary hearing.

District policy stipulates possession of a weapon in school is punishable by no less than a one-year expulsion unless Supt. Randy Weseman determines there were mitigating circumstances.

A charge of marijuana possession would be investigated by police, but that situation also could result in a school suspension.

Police went to Deerfield, 101 Lawrence Ave., after receiving a tip that a student was planning to harm one or more of his peers. No one was injured at the school.

“A parent overheard a conversation involving some juveniles in which vague threats were made,” police spokesman Sgt. Mike Pattrick said. He declined to say how the conversation was heard.

Police questioned several boys, but no arrests were made, Pattrick said. Police do not believe anyone was about to be attacked.

The boy was turned over to the custody of a parent, Pattrick said. A report about the incident will be sent to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

Principal Suzie Soyster was to send an explanatory letter home with students Thursday.

In January, Deerfield parents were similarly notified about threatening graffiti written on a restroom wall.

Soyster said that message vowing violence against a student had been found in a restroom used by sixth-grade students.