The principal who punished and almost suspended a fourth-grader for playing with a LEGO-sized toy gun during lunch has apologized to the boy's family. "The principal called me and said, 'I'm sorry, I never meant for it to go this far,'" said the 9-year-old's mother, Laura Timoney, who has threatened to file suit over the incident. "She sounded upset ... I think she is sorry that this is happening. I wish she was sorry for Patrick."
The apologies come after PS 52 Principal Evelyn Mastroianni brought Patrick Timoney to her office for playing with a LEGO policeman and a miniature toy gun, threatened to suspend him under the city's zero-tolerance policy, and forced him to sign a statement admitting he committed an "A-4 infraction." "She told me to write that I had a gun," Patrick told the Daily News. "She said, 'A gun is a gun.'"
A Department of Education spokesman acknowledged that "[t]he principal made an error in judgment by overreacting when the toy was found," and the superintendent has called the boy's family to discuss the issue. The Timoneys contest the city's claim that the principal has apologized to Patrick directly.
