Student not certain he mentioned toy gun

CELINA - Eighth-grader Tyler Carlin said he had permission to make a fallen soldier's monument for history class but does not believe he asked permission to use a toy gun as part of the project.

When Tyler submitted his project, his memorial was confiscated and he was told to go to the principal's office, he said. He received a three-day in-school suspension for disruption and bringing something to school resembling a dangerous weapon, according to information from attorney Travis Faber, who is representing the Carlin family.

Faber said Tyler had told his teacher, Ryan Spriggs, he wanted to use an airsoft gun as part of the battlefield cross he planned to make.

Spriggs granted him permission to proceed with the project but told him not to use an airsoft gun due to a recent incident involving a high school junior who displayed one in a social media post warning students not to come to class the next day, Faber said.

Faber said he does not believe Tyler asked Spriggs if he could use a NERF gun instead. In a recent interview televised on WRGT-TV, Tyler said he had not told Spriggs he was going to do so.

Superintendent Ken Schmies-
ing said he believed all 210 eighth-graders have turned in projects for the assignment. No other suspensions have been reported publicly.

While Tyler appeared on TV, a bright yellow part of the NERF gun was visible. However, when Tyler and his father, Chris, brought the memorial to the newspaper office earlier this month, the yellow portion was not visible. Faber said the toy gun has a sliding part that can hide the yellow section.

"Nothing was changed on the gun or taken off. It's a slide that slides up and down," Faber said. "The slide was down when his dad brought it in."

"The teacher clearly knew there would be a firearm component with the project," Faber stressed. "He even provided several pictures of the project to the teacher of what the cross would look like."

Tyler said he spent a lot of time making the military project that meant a lot to him.

"The topic is important to me since they are the ones who die fighting for our country and don't make it home to see their family," he said in the project proposal.

The school district does not allow students to possess, use, transmit, conceal or handle any object that might be considered dangerous, including look-alike weapons, according to the student handbook.

District officials later changed their stated reason for suspension to "insubordination," Faber said, adding he'd been told one student had submitted a fake grenade but was not disciplined.

Schmiesing said he is not aware of any student who did this.

The suspension has led to picketing in front of Celina City Schools buildings since Wednesday. A military veteran, Celina alumna Janice Holdheide, appeared at Monday's school board meeting to talk about the issue and show her support for Tyler.

However, school board president Carl Huber said the topic was not open to discussion since school officials are legally barred from talking about student disciplinary actions.

District officials cannot speak about the situation without permission from the family, district officials have said. Faber said he has notified the district's attorney that the family would consider each piece of information district officials want to release individually.