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Dearborn Heights Honor Student Suspended For The Year After Bringing Knife To School

DEARBORN HEIGHTS (WWJ) - Initially told she would be expelled, a Dearborn Heights honor student has been suspended for the remainder of the year after she was caught with a pocket knife at school.

Atiya Haynes, a 17-year-old senior at Annapolis High School, said she didn't even realize she was carrying the weapon which was given to her by her grandfather who was concerned for her safety in her Detroit neighborhood.

Haynes told WWJ Newsradio 950's Marie Osborne that she'd just threw the 3.25-inch knife into the bottom of her purse. Months later, Haynes was in a school restroom where someone had apparently been smoking marijuana during a school football game. When she was searched along with other students, the knife was found.

Michigan state law has a zero tolerance policy for weapons on school grounds.

"I was really taken aback; like a mix of shock, because I'd forgotten that it was in there," said Haynes. "Honestly, it just left my mind; like about two days after he'd given it to me, it kinda left my mind."

With the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union, Haynes was given a chance to appeal her case.

At a meeting Monday night, the Dearborn Heights Board of Education heard Haynes' story and decided not to expel her, but to suspend her through the end of the school year. She will be allowed to enroll in online classes so she can graduate with her classmates in 2015.

"I don't believe the punishment fits the crime at all," Haynes said. "Even when (the security officer) discovered the pocket knife, and I was shocked about the entire situation, I didn't expect it to go this far whatsoever."

Haynes and her immigrant parents were hoping board members would change their minds and allow her to return to class. Haynes' mother told reporters that the family is now considering their options, possibly private school.

Haynes said she doesn't plan to let this incident ruin her plans to attend college.

"...To have the opportunities that I've been afforded is like amazing for us," Haynes said. "And for it just to be, you know, cut so short so soon, it would be devastating, traumatic for our family."

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