Kirk Boxleitner, kboxleitner@ptleader.com

Chimacum School District officials deemed a reported choking of a student by another student to be a “very isolated” incident, but they stated that measures are being taken to ensure such an act does not occur again.

The incident happened at Chimacum Middle School March 24, and has resulted in an emergency expulsion and an investigation by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO).

Because the two students involved are minors, Art Frank, JCSO chief criminal deputy, declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

Chimacum Schools Superintendent Rick Thompson likewise cited the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as a reason for not releasing any identifying information about the children.

However, he did confirm that the student who allegedly choked the classmate has received an emergency expulsion as a disciplinary measure, which Thompson expects to be converted to a short-term suspension of approximately five days.

Thompson added that the student would need to meet with the middle school principal at a re-entry conference, prior to being readmitted.

“The incident was witnessed by [Principal Dave Carthum], another staff member and a third student,” said Thompson, who noted that the school district’s policy on emergency expulsions falls under the 3200 heading in the “Board” section of the district’s website. “An emergency expulsion is a response when the behavior is inappropriate as defined in the policy. It is normally converted to some other kind and term of corrective measure,” he explained.

As outlined on page 18 of the “Handbook of Student Conduct and Corrective Action in the Chimacum School District,” under the Emergency Actions section:

“A student may be expelled immediately by the principal in emergency situations if the principal has good and sufficient reason to believe that the student’s presence poses an immediate and continuing danger to the student, other students, or school personnel or the immediate and continuing threat of substantial disruption to the educational process.”

Thompson elaborated that such an emergency expulsion constitutes “a severe time-out,” but is not the final disciplinary action expected.

“For middle school students especially, shorter-term suspensions tend to be recommended more often, to keep the kids in school as much as possible,” Thompson said. “At the same time, you need to weigh the rights of the student being suspended against the educational and emotional well-being of the other students at the school.”

Thompson, as a former high school principal in Tacoma, credited Carthum not only with striking a balance between those concerns, but also with taking advantage of the smaller student body to adopt a more personal approach to both discipline and post-incident evaluations.

“I know he interviewed all the students involved,” Thompson said. “We also monitor events off-campus, to see if the situation has cooled down or escalated. I know [Carthum] is proactive and has reached out to the students’ families. His decision was within our rules for responding to such student actions and was tailored to the student’s record.”

As superintendent of the Chimacum School District, Thompson receives reports of the suspensions in all his schools, and he described the March 24 incident as “very isolated” and “not part of any larger pattern.

“That being said, as a school district, we’re always measuring incidences of all kinds of student behavior,” Thompson said. “We’re looking at what kinds of discipline and sanctions work, and whether we have any repeat incidents. We don’t have a lot of students making the same mistakes twice.”