"Pop Tart" suspension should be erased, family says

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - School leaders in Anne Arundel County, Md. are defending their decision to keep a suspension on the record of a seven-year-old boy who got in trouble for chewing a "Pop Tart" pastry into the shape of a gun and threatening other students, reports CBS Baltimore.

An attorney for Joshua Welch's family tells the station the boy learned his lesson and there's no reason why the suspension should remain on his record. But school officials argue the incident was just a final straw in a history of bad behavior.

In March 2013, second-grader Joshua Welch was suspended from Park Elementary School for chewing his breakfast pastry into a pretend gun and threatening other students.

Outraged by the punishment, his parents demanded the district erase the suspension from his record.

"I don't see a reason for it to be there. And that's been my goal from day one," his father, William Welch, said, according to the station.

But the school administration isn't backing down and is standing by their decision.

School officials say Welch's behavior was not a one-time deal. They say he was involved in 20 documented incidents before he was suspended.

Talks got heated as both sides pleaded their case during a school board hearing Wednesday, according to the station.

School officials say they're unsure when the board will make a final decision.

Joshua Welch is now a fourth-grader. His parents moved him from Park Elementary and transferred him to another school.