Fifth-Grader Suspended for Bringing Swiss Army Knife on Marin Headlands Trip

A South Bay fifth-grader was suspended and threatened with expulsion for bringing a small Swiss Army knife on a school-sponsored, science-oriented camping trip in the Marin Headlands earier this month, according to The Daily Caller.

In early April, Braden Bandermann, a 10-year-old student at Garden Gate Elementary School in Cupertino, set off with his class for fifth-graders' annual, week-long pilgrimage to the Headlands. Bandermann brought along his trusty, multi-tool Swiss Army knife, which contains a can opener, tweezers, a toothpick, a nail file, a tiny pair of scissors and a small blade.

Bandermann’s father Tony Bandermann told the website he called and asked to pick up his son for carrying a weapon.

The school principal, Brandi Hucko, allegedly wanted Bandermann to rush to the site of the science camp, pick Braden up for a one-day suspension and then deliver him back to camp.

According to the report, Bandermann believes school officials overreacted.

Garden Gate Elementary’s parent handbook, available on the school’s website, stipulates a stern “zero-tolerance” policy for “violence, weapons, and drugs on school campuses or at school activities off campus.”

The Caller article said that district spokesperson Jeremy Nishihara declined to speak about the incident, saying that it would violate Braden's privacy.

“This is not Sandy Hook,” Tony Bandermann said. “Get real. He brought a stupid Swiss Army knife to camp.”

Read the full story in The Daily Caller here.