District apologizes for taking blind student’s cane as punishment

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — North Kansas City Schools apologized for confiscating an 8-year-old blind student’s cane last month and giving him a foam tube called a pool noodle to use instead, Reuters reports.

The district took the cane from Dakota Nafzinger after he reportedly swung it on a bus, according to Reuters. The boy was listening to music, and although he often taps his cane to the music, this time he threw it in the air, his father, Don Nafzinger, told ABC News. He added that school officials told him they thought Dakota was getting violent.

A teacher replaced the cane with the pool noodle, Don Nafzinger told Reuters. The school district said in a statement it made a mistake, according to Reuters, and returned the cane to Dakota.