DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A fifth grader was accused of selling pocket knives to her fellow students, and now her parents are speaking out.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was in DeKalb County Monday, where some parents are now asking for suspensions to be reversed.
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Fernandes first reported on this exclusive story Friday. A 5th grader at Panola Way Elementary School was suspended for allegedly selling pocket knives to other students.
The 10-year-old was trying to raise money to go to Disney, according to her parents.
“She has hats (and) fanny packs. She was selling bracelets,” the girl’s parents say.
The parents, who asked not to be identified, said their 10-year-old daughter is a future entrepreneur.
She’s recently been selling all sorts of things to her classmates to save up for her dream trip to Disney.
“With money being tight and things just going crazy right now we can’t afford to. Her cousin gave her these items a while back,” the girl’s mother said.
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The cousin had a business that failed during the pandemic. She gave the box of items to the fifth grader to sell at school. She now regrets it because she forgot to tell the child, that the orange item that looks like a key is actually a pocket knife.
Administrators suspended the 5th grader for 10 days for selling the knives to at least 10 children.
“We couldn’t see this. No one could see this. If I had seen this, we would’ve never let her bring it to school,” the girl’s father said.
These parents are feeling guilty for not making sure everything their daughter was selling was safe for the kids.
They’re begging administrators to reverse the suspensions for the 10 kids who didn’t realize what they were buying.
They also don’t want their daughter expelled.
“True enough, she made a mistake and she needs to be reprimanded, but getting rid of her out of school for something she really didn’t know... come on that’s a little harsh,” the girl’s father explained.
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Last week, the principal sent out a letter to parents saying one child was caught with one weapon.
On Monday, a district spokesperson told Fernandes they’re sticking by that letter.
The parents of the girl who accidentally sold these knives said, the principal should’ve told parents the truth.
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