ASFMS Student Suspended for Toy Gun Keychain at School

Published Sept. 28 at 2:38 p.m., updated Sept. 30 at 1:04 p.m.

Officials at Alan Shawn Feinstein Middle School in Coventry have suspended a seventh-grader after he brought a small toy gun keychain to school with him on Thursday. 

12-year-old Joseph Lyssikatos explained that the quarter-sized keychain fell out of his backpack and was picked up by a classmate who proceeded to display it to other students before it was confiscated by a teacher.

Citing the school's zero tolerance policy, school officials suspended Joseph for three days and have also banned him from attending an upcoming class field trip to Salem, MA.

According to an NBC 10 report, Joseph's parents are not happy with the ruling.

“This boy was the one waving it or showing it to other kids. Not Joseph,” Bonnie Bonanno, Joseph’s stepmother, told WJAR. “Joseph wasn’t doing that so why weren’t both of them reprimanded?”

During an interview on WPRO radio, Joseph's father, Keith Bonanno, said ASFMS Behavioral Specialist Kim Sturdahl told him his son was “lucky that he didn’t get suspended for 10 days, or even worse expelled.”

An excerpt from the school's official handbook entitled “Serious Disciplinary Infractions” states: “Possession/carrying/use of/threat of use of a firearm or replica shall result in a recommendation for expulsion for a period of time up to one full calendar year.”

In a brief statement released by the school, officials explained that they could not comment on any specifics as the incident is a "student discipline issue".