A senior at Clements High School in Sugar Land, Texas was transferred to an alternative education center last month after it was learned that the student had created a map of his school in the online game Counter-Strike.
The student wasn't arrested or charged with any crimes, but police were called in to search his home, where they found five swords. Police also ordered the student to erase the game and maps from his computer.
Between the game's violent content, the discovery of the swords (which Fort Bend Now reports may have been decorative), and other as-yet-unrevealed information, officials with the Fort Bend Independent School District labeled the situation "level 3," which mandated the transfer to the alternative school. According to Fort Bend Now, "level 3" is code for a student who "engages in conduct relating to a false alarm or report (including a bomb threat) or a terroristic threat involving a public school."
Currently there is a split on the school district's board of trustees, with a pair of trustees publicly suggesting the transfer was an overreaction and pushing for a public meeting at which the disciplinary issue might be resolved. However, some of their fellow trustees and the school board administration are standing by the move.
"Ever since Columbine, anything that remotely looks like a threat has to be taken very seriously," Fort Bend Now quotes FBISD spokesperson Mary Ann Simpson as saying. "The minute we don't, something serious is going to happen."
