03/27/02

By BILL KOCH

WEBSTER

Ten-year-old Hailie Whatley was sitting on a bench with two other fifth-graders outside of Webster Elementary School about two weeks ago during a break from test taking.

The honor student was trying to figure out a way to cheer up a crying classmate sitting next to her, the girl's mother said.

Within hours, however, the Webster girl was sitting in the principal's office facing accusations that she threatened to kill the girl.

According to Marty Whatley, her daughter Hailie was hoping to encourage her schoolmate with a role-playing game she called "Civil War." Designating herself a Confederate soldier, Hailie picked up an Oak leaf and pointed it like a gun at the other girl, the so-called "Yankee soldier."

"This was done in a role-playing scenario," Whatley said. "She said 'I was just playing.'"

That type of play, according to Sumter School District's zero-tolerance policy, earned the girl &emdash; who has been in trouble only once before in second grade &emdash; a one-day suspension and loss of her safety patrol duties.

"We're talking about a kid who was absolutely astonished at this," Whatley said. "This was done in play. I tried to find some reasoning for this. Emotionally it was devastating. She lost everything she worked for all those years."

"I don't know how many parents are aware of this (zero-tolerance policy)," Whatley said.

Plenty, school officials say.

Superintendent of Schools Richard Shirley said information on the school district's discipline policy are sent home with every child at the beginning of the school year.

Officials say times have changed in the wake of school shootings in the last several years.

"We don't take that stuff lightly," Shirley said. "We are being more responsive to legitimate is-sues that have been around for years. We try to deal with it as effectively and as quickly as possible."

Assistant Superintendent Hannah Foster said people need to understand what it takes to maintain secure schools. "Everybody wants safe schools but that's where the 'yea, but' comes in," Foster said.

Whatley calls the school's decision "an overkill of the power which the school system now wields over the parents and students of Sumter County."

School principal Carolyn Stephens disputes Whatley's claim that school officials went too far or erred in disciplining Hailie.

"The child pretended to stab the other," Stephen said. "She said she was going to kill her herself. The (girl who reported the incident) felt very threatened by the situation."

"We look very, very closely at each incident. We follow the zero-tolerance policy that's in place. This is just standard procedure," she said.

Whatley said "standard procedure" doesn't take into account what she called innocent child play and girls' sometimes vindictive attitudes toward each other.

Hailie's "record is marred (by this offense). She does not want to go back to school. She feels betrayed by those she trusted," said Whatley in a letter to the Daily Commercial. The bottom line, Foster said, is everyone, including 10-year-old girls need to understand that certain behavior, actions and use of words will not be tolerated.

"You're going to be disciplined if you threaten to kill someone," she said. "That's all there is to it. We take threats very seriously."