Bender v. Exeter Township School District

SCHMEHL, J.L., J.,

Twelve-year-old Cassandra Bender was in the sixth grade at Lorane Elementary School, which is part of the Exeter Township School District. On April 24, 2003, Cassandra and another female student had a verbal dispute after which Cassandra was overheard by a cafeteria worker uttering a statement involving the use of the word “kill.”1 Because of this threat the principal of Lorane Elementary *416School, Deborah Dawson, suspended Cassandra for three days. On April 30, 2003, a meeting was held whereby school officials drafted a “Confidential 1ST recall action plan” which stated in…