Judge reverses suspension in student gun case

SKOWHEGAN – A Superior Court justice on Tuesday overturned a Mt. Blue High School senior’s suspension, saying the student did not break school rules when he unknowingly brought a gun to school in a borrowed pickup truck.

Justice Joseph Jabar reversed a decision by the SAD 9 school board to suspend Sheldon Allen for 20 days, on top of a 10-day administrative suspension, for having an unloaded .25-caliber pistol in a pickup truck he had borrowed from his older brother.

Allen, 18, served the 10-day suspension, but appealed an April 6 school board decision to suspend him for another 20 days.

Jabar said he understood the concerns about guns on school property in the wake of deadly school shootings in recent years in Minnesota and Colorado, but said it was unfair to suspend Allen when he had no idea the gun was in the truck.

“We cannot punish somebody because we are afraid or we want to be careful,” Jabar said.

School officials found the gun under some trash beneath the seat of the truck March 25 when they searched it as part of a separate investigation.

Allen, of New Vineyard, has been attending school pending the outcome of his appeal.

He said the additional suspension might have jeopardized his ability to attend Maine Maritime Academy, where he has been accepted, or graduate with his class. He said he disagreed with the school board’s decision to suspend him, but understood why it chose that route.

“The board thought what they did was right,” said Allen.

Erving Snyder, attorney for the school board, conceded that the board determined that Allen did not knowingly bring the gun to school.