Assault at school- go to the police?

Q:  My son who is in 8th grade got into a simple debate about whether his friend was a better skateboarder than another kid who is in his school and told the other kid he wasn't a good skateboarder.

The other kid, it turns out, is turning 16 next month, and still in the 8th grade. The other kid threw my son down to the ground, got on top of him, and kept my son down by pressing down on my son's neck with his forearm. The other kid is almost 200 lbs, about twice my son's weight. The school my give him an external suspension for 3 days, even though the zero-tolerance policy is 5. We have heard through a mutual friend that the student may only get 1 day external suspension because he didn't punch my son. Should I go to the police or let the school do as they may?

Additional information

 

I asked about the student's history, and the school's assistant principal would not tell me anything about the student, including his name, and told me they cannot tell me how they are disciplining the student. Of course my son told me the student's name. The student has been left back twice , and the student was caught with drugs in the past- common knowledge, and the student openly admits it to other students. Luckily my son had a group of other students see what happened and pulled the kid off him. My son didn't even try to defend himself for fear of getting in trouble.
I forgot- the other kid also went to my son's class later on and "called him out" during my son's Social Studies class. The teacher threw the other kid out of the room and sent him on his way. The teacher went into the hallway after the other kid left and talked to another adult, about what we don't know.


A:  David's Answer:  First, you should consider consulting with a lawyer handling education lawsuits, as you may wish to document to the school that you feel under-disciplining the student may risk more harm in the future. Second, if you are dissatisfied with the school's response, then yes, it would appear to make out a cause of action for disorderly conduct & thus reportable to the police.   -- David Bliven, Bronx Civil Rights attorney (www.blivenlaw.net)