STEPHEN, S.C.—On October 24th, Rhoda Cannon Johnson says her son, Randy “RJ” Cannon, 16, was called into the principal’s office after school cameras caught him passing dipping tobacco to other students on campus.
“They were then going to search him and asked if he had anything on him that they would find,” stated the teen’s mother. “He handed them a shirt wrapped up with a box blade inside that he uses to work with. The principal, knowing that he rides the bus from school to work, recommended him for expulsion and then just a short time later they expelled him.”
According to the teen’s mother, her son works at the IGA, a local grocery story in St. Stephen. He often uses the blade to open boxes when stocking products on store shelves.
“It (the box cutter) was wrapped up in his work shirt and in the bottom of his book bag,” she said. “The blade is less than two inches. When asked, he pulled it out of his book bag and handed it to him.”
Johnson admits her son deserves to be punished but claims expelling him is a bit extreme.
“He’s never been in trouble before, and he knows he made a stupid mistake,” stated Johnson. “The box cutter was used for work purposes and he never intended or even thought of it as a weapon, and the dip is all around him daily. He wanted to be a part of something, so he was trying it just like about 20 to 30 other students that go to Timberland.”
Her son is currently a sophomore and an A/B student and actively involved in numerous school organizations, according to the teen’s mother.
“He is a sergeant in the JROTC, Raider team (2nd year), drill team, color guard. He is in FFA (2nd year), and he is the reporter on the committee for FFA. He is currently on HOSA and practicing his EMT completion for the Competition of HOSA, He is also a member of STEMS (which is Science, Math, Technology and engineering clubs),” stated Johnson. “He has been a member of the Boy Scouts since he was a Tiger Cub at age six. “His rank now is life scout and is currently working on
his eagle project which is the high honor award given to boys before the age of 18.”
On top of all that, Johnson says her son has been a junior firefighter since the age of fourteen with Macedonia Rural Volunteer Fire Department.
“My son is a good kid with goals and plans for his future, and now with this comes being kicked out of the Jr. Program at the fire department,” stated Johnson. “He is going to be 20-years-old now before he graduates. His original plans were to take course over the summer to graduate early and get started on his career.”
The Berkeley Observer reached out to the Berkeley County School District for comment Friday. Spokesperson Chip Sturgis stated that the school district could not comment on individual students.
“According to our district policies and the South Carolina Code of Laws, the child can be expelled for possessing a weapon on school property,” added Sturgis. “The family has the right to appeal the expulsion decision if they choose.”
Johnson says that’s exactly what she plans to do. Her son’s appeal hearing will take place on Tuesday at the Berkeley County School District in Moncks Corner.
“My son has always been taught to tell the truth. He voluntarily gave the box cutter to them but without his book bag being searched, no one would have knew it was there,” stated Johnson.
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RJ is such a good guy and Timberland isn’t known for thinking things through, especially this year. I work with RJ as a cashier at IGA, and the box cutters are used regularly. Him going to work without a box cutter would be like me going without a pen. See the case of Mrs. Pyatt and Mrs. Gatchell. Mrs. Pyatt is our new government/Econ, U.S. history teacher. She teaches mostly honors classes and has been reported by students several times for unprofessional behavior. Turns out, Pyatt was formerly a teacher for Charleston County Alternative school. And Timberland hired this woman to teach advanced students? In the case of Mrs. Gatchell, it has been known that she was going to leave for several months. Timberland failed to hire a long term sub or new teacher to teach the students in her class. Clearly Timberland’s judgement isn’t what it is supposed to be. My point is this, if Timberland is repeatedly making these mistakes, is it fair to trust their judgement in dealing with RJ’s situation? I think not. I’m an honors student as well, number 19 in my class, 4.035 GPA. Timberland does nothing to help good students, and they surely haven’t helped RJ. I think he deserves a little wiggle room. Being expelled goes on record and can be seen by colleges and the military. Would they want a kid expelled for carrying a “weapon”? No sir. So essentially Timberland is going to ruin the future of a boy who is trying to make something of himself. Half the people in Timberland will never work a job in their entire life, but Timberland expels a boy for trying to do his. A high school is supposed to be an establishment that encourages you to better yourself, prepare you for adulthood, and teach you to be independent.
I have known RJ and his mother for a couple of years now. This highly mature young man does not deserve to be expelled over something that is used for work purposes. I could understand if he was threatening another person, but he was not. It was wrapped up in his shirt at the bottom of his book bag. He made a mistake. Don’t ruin his career goals over a mistake.