Toy Gun Still Costs 8-Yr-Old, One Year Later

Last November, second-grader Samuel Burgos was expelled from Pembroke Pines Charter School in Broward County, Fla., for one year after bringing a toy gun to class. A year later, county school board officials say the expulsion still stands as part of a zero-tolerance policy on bringing weapons to school, reports NBC Miami.

"He made a mistake, but why the severe punishment? I don't understand that," Magdiel Burgos, Samuel's father, told the station.

Officials maintain it's a cut-and-dried case - that the toy gun was capable of firing projectiles, earning it's classification as a weapon. They say 8-year-old Samuel can attend a nearby correctional school for problem children.

His parents refused that option last year - opting to home-school him - and remain opposed to the idea.

"I can't sit here and allow them to send my kid to a school where students have committed actual crimes," his father told the station. "He hasn't committed a crime."

Magdiel Burgos said his son has been set back emotionally and academically - he'll likely have to repeat the 2nd grade.

The Burgoses plan to attend a school board meeting next week in an effort to get their son re-enrolled in Pembroke Pines.