School called police on third grader who mentioned brownies

Brownies might seem like an innocuous snack to bring to a third grade class party. But mentioning them got a 9-year-old boy in New Jersey questioned by police in mid-June when a classmate misinterpreted his comments as “racist,” according to the boy’s mother.

The nine-year-old boy at William P. Tatem Elementary School mentioned the snacks at his end-of-year class party, which were being served to him and his classmates, philly.com reported. Another classmate responded that his words were “racist,” and school officials then called local police, according to the site.

An armed officer arrived and talked to the child, who was “intimidated” by the encounter, his mother told philly.com.

“There was a police officer with a gun in the holster talking to my son, saying, 'Tell me what you said,’” mother Stacy dos Santos recalled. But her son told her that “they were talking about brownies,” she added. “Who exactly did he offend?"

Police called dos Santos’ husband, the boy’s father, later that day to report what had happened and that they had notified the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, philly.com reported. The boy’s father is Brazilian, dos Santos said.

Dos Santos said she herself is a graduate of Collingswood schools, and that school officials had overreacted to a simple comment and hurt her son.

“He didn't have anybody on his side” when he was questioned, she said. Her son stayed home instead of going to school on the last day of third grade.

This isn’t the first time Collingswood has upset parents by calling police to the school. The Camden County Prosecutor’s office had told school officials to report all possible crimes to local police, the Courier-Post reported.

Collingswood Police Chief Kevin Carey said in a letter that the new instructions, which took effect May 26, had told police "to respond to all incidents in schools that could be criminal and investigate the same,” according to the Courier-Post.

Carey added in the letter that police were also told to “err on the side of caution and investigate all matters that could be seen as criminal by anyone involved… This could be as minor as a simple name-calling incident that the school would typically handle internally to a full-blown major investigation.”

Several parents sent letters to the school board and started a petition when the change became apparent, the Courier-Post reported.

"I do not believe children should be policed in this way," Samantha Martinez, who has two children, told the Courier-Post. "All that's going to do is make children afraid of police, and that's the last thing we want to do."

According to the paper, Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo said Tuesday that her office and the borough’s mayor would work to find a more peaceable solution.

But it might be too late for the third grader who was questioned by police at his class party. Dos Santos said she wants to send him to a different school in Collingswood when he returns for fourth grade after what happened.

"I'm not comfortable with the administration” at the school, she told philly.com. “I don't trust them and neither does my child.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 11:04 AM with the headline "School called police on third grader who mentioned brownies."