The Fayette Citizen-News Page

Wednesday, May 8, 2002

'Good student' impaled on zero tolerance rule

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Forgetting to unload his landscaping equipment from the back of his truck may cost Fayette County High School junior Jamie Gilman the chance to go to prom ... and it may cost him his passing grades as well.

Gilman, who was suspended from school last week after a machete was found in the bed of his pickup truck, just wants to get back to school and put the incident behind him, said his mother, Terri Gilman. Several of his teachers concur, calling him a good student.

Ironically, it was Gilman's participation in a landscaping class at FCHS that inspired him to start his own landscaping business with a friend. He and a friend posted flyers around town to drum up business.

Gilman worked until dark the night before the incident at school. He forgot to unload the truck, and didn't notice the equipment there in the morning before school because it was raining hard, Terri Gilman said.

A disciplinary tribunal will meet Monday to determine whether Gilman should be punished further or allowed to return to school. The school's prom is set for Saturday, May 18, at the Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta.

Gilman also faces criminal charges and will have to go through that process as well.

Since he is not allowed to perform make-up work during the 10-day suspension, Gilman is also worried about his academic status, his mother said.

"He's worried that he will not pass this year," Terri Gilman said, noting that her son is a B-average student.

Several teachers have written letters of recommendation in Jamie Gilman's defense, saying that he is a good student who doesn't cause any trouble in class, his mother said.

School authorities said Georgia law required them to report the matter to police. The machete was discovered by school resource officer Sgt. Ernest Stanley.

The student conduct code prohibits students from possessing weapons or "any object which can be reasonably considered a weapon" on school property.

The machete, which is almost 22 inches long according to court records, was spotted by Stanley as he patrolled the parking lot area last Tuesday, according to school officials.