The Little Brown Reader

Deadline extended on student's discipline for rap CD

Deadline extended on student's discipline for rap CD

The Associated Press

Published November 8, 2003

MILWAUKEE - A school superintendent Friday delayed deciding whether to hold an expulsion hearing for an honors student who was suspended for making a rap CD with a lyric that officials say threatened the principal.

Matt Gibson, Elmbrook School District superintendent, said he extended Friday's deadline to Tuesday morning to gather more information about the case of 15-year-old Sashwat Singh.

Mark Cerutti, Brookfield Central High School principal, suspended Singh Oct. 29 for a lyric on Singh's homemade rap compact disc.

Gibson extended the timeline for the next step during a 90-minute meeting set up at the request of Andrew Franklin, the boy's attorney.

"We had a good two-way communication," Gibson said. "We gained some time to work through the issues."

Gibson and Franklin declined to talk about the specifics of the meeting, citing Singh's privacy.

Singh was suspended for "gross disobedience or misconduct," which would put Singh's actions on par with a bomb threat, arson or bringing guns to school.

His 32-minute, 14-track CD includes references to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts, Franklin said.

The rap about Cerutti suggests that if the principal doesn't leave Brookfield, Singh will "(expletive) beat your ass down." It also uses sexually explicit slurs to describe the principal.

Singh will return to class on Tuesday unless Gibson seeks expulsion, in which case Singh would be suspended for up to 10 more days and a hearing would be held.

Franklin called the lyrics "absolutely not a threat" and said there were better ways to deal with the issue than suspension or expulsion.

"This was a simple situation where someone tried to express himself and they suspended him because of it," Franklin said. "The punishment didn't fit the conduct."

Franklin said Singh was enrolled in advanced placement courses and enjoyed music classes. Franklin said after Friday's meeting that his client wouldn't talk to reporters until a decision was made on the expulsion hearing.

Franklin said Singh recorded the CD on his home computer and distributed five copies to friends at the high school. Neither Gibson or Franklin knew how Cerutti received a copy.

Cerutti did not return phone messages from the Associated Press on Friday.

Original (requires registration)

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Read It Rating: 7
Left/Right Rating: 0
Freedom Rating: 0
Learning Percentage: 60%