Officials Lift Suspension Of Kindergartner

A 6-year-old suspended from kindergarten for bringing a butter knife to cut his cookies will be allowed to return to school, state officials ruled Tuesday after determining his punishment was too severe.

The 10-day suspension, which would have kept the boy from attending his graduation at Agnes Little Elementary School in Pawtucket, outraged state Child Advocate Laureen D’Ambra, who asked the state Department of Education to intervene.

“There was never any evidence that boy wanted to hurt anybody,” D’Ambra said. “He was just an adorable little boy who had no idea what he had done wrong.”

Principal Audrey Cunha called police and suspended the boy June 6 after the knife he said he brought to cut his cookies with fell from his pocket.

The suspension was made under the Pawtucket school district’s “zero-tolerance” weapons policy.