GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Hunter Spanjer, age three, is deaf and says his name with a certain special hand gesture. But the Grand Island School District says that he has to change it because they claim that his tiny hands may look too much like a gun.
According to KGIN-TV in Grand Island, Spanjer’s family says the district told them the way their preschooler signs his name is a violation of their “Weapons in School” policy.
“Anybody that I have talked to thinks this is absolutely ridiculous. This is not threatening in any way,” Hunter’s grandmother, Janet Logue, told KGIN.
The district’s weapon policy forbids, “any instrument…that looks like a weapon.”
“It’s a symbol. It’s an actual sign, a registered sign, through S.E.E.,” said father Brian Spanjer.
The controversy has some Grand Island residents angry.
“I find it very difficult to believe that the sign language that shows his name resembles a gun in any way would even enter a child’s mind,” said Grand Island resident Fredda Bartenbach.
A district spokesperson said that they are working with Hunter’s parents to come up with a solution.
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