What a class!

First, I would like to address Jay's nice comment about feeling so included in our cohort (thank you, Jay).  You were a great fit with "the group", and yeah, I would like to say that we represent the greater majority of the Rock Island-Milan School District---we work hard and like to laugh!  I am very happy with what we have done and the direction we are going as a district and am proud to say my own children attend the schools in Rock Island.  I used to be an advocate for black and white issues; however, since I have been attending the district Discipline Code update meetings, and have worked with our school attorney, I see that those days are gone.  It would appear that almost everything is a case by case decision and the entire world is gray.  It made me very uncomfortable at first, then I started to understand it more.  It is still hard for me to put it into words, but my take on the situation is that rules are made, teachers make sure they are taught, and if a student violates the rules we find out why before we dish out consequences.  Being on the side of extreme, here's an example:  A boy brings a knife to school.  Did he bring the knife to school because he went fishing the night before and wore the same pants to school the next day forgetting to take the knife out, or did he bring the knife to school to intentionally invoke harm to himself or someone else?  Should the student of one circumstance get the same consequence as the other?