Dean Steele and the 2 officers escorted a classmate and me outside the classroom. We stopped for a little while in the hallway and Ms. Steele asked us, “Where is the knife?” We denied having one. Dean Steele said, “Okay, whatever.”  And she rolled her eyes and brought us to the discipline office. 

They sent the classmate to the back and kept me in the front. While sitting down waiting, one of the officers came up to me and said, “Man, why did you bring a knife to school?!” I told the officer that I didn’t and he didn’t believe me and he walked off. 

A little later, Dean Steele comes back and the 2 cops are in the room as well. Dean Steele says, “I am going to check you.” and she told me to stand up. I did. She patted me down with gloves on. She did not use the back of her hand while she was patting me down. She told me to remove my jacket, shoes, and my socks. She did not find anything on me.

She also told me to empty my pockets, and still, she found nothing. She then asked me, “Where did you put it? I told her that I didn’t have a knife. She continued to ask me about the knife and she said that if I didn’t tell her I could get into a lot more trouble. I started crying. Dean Steele continued to ask me where I put the knife. At that point, I became very emotional. I tried to tell Ms. Steele where the knife was. I became flustered about where the knife was because Ms. Steele continued to question me about the knife. I could not think of the word and Ms. Steele kept pestering and interrogating me about the knife. I started to pull my hair out of frustration and stress. When she noticed I did that, she backed off and let me think and talk. 

I told her where the tiny knife was. Dean Steele asked me why I brought it to school. I explained to her that I didn’t bring it to school. Then I started to tell her about the incident from the day before. She seemed like she understood.  Then she told me, “Now, you’re going to go get it.” I was confused and she repeated that I had to go upstairs with her and the two officers to get the knife. So, I did. 

We went to the classroom. I got the knife and handed it over to her. She took me back down to the office and she had me write the witness report of what happened. I only put down what I did on the report but Dean Steele told me I had to write down that I had a knife on the paper and so I did. I sat in the office for a long time. Dean Steele was asking people for a ruler so that she could measure the blade. I heard her say that if the blade was 2.5 inches, I would get a level 4 infraction. When she got the ruler, the blade measured less than 2 inches but she still gave me a level 4 infraction. 

I sat in the office a little while longer and then Dean Steele called my mom and told her to come get me. I was being suspended for having a knife. A little while later, she checked my bag and found nothing. I sat in the office a little longer and she told me to sign my referral. Then another teacher came in to record my answer on video. 

I sat in Dean Steele’s office and sent me to PASS. We waited for my mom to pick me up.  When my mom came, she went with me to collect my things. She even let me walk ahead of her and sent me to the classroom by myself. As she waited for me (she could still see me) then we met my mom in the front office. The whole time Dean Steele seemed calm. She was humming and being casual. She didn’t see me as a threat at all.