Column: Cases differ, but common sense trumps 'zero tolerance' in safety

The differences between common sense and blatant overreaction have never been more dramatic than those among school officials nationwide following the December massacre of 20 young students and six staffers in Newtown, Conn.

Two school districts — one in Denver, another in Prince William County, Va. — illustrate opposite approaches to improving school safety and reducing gun violence.

Washington Post reporter Donna St. George described their approaches in two recent stories.

Denver’s public school system and police have worked out a new agreement so law enforcement won’t have to get involved in minor incidents. It could spare a good many of the system’s 84,000 students from significant penalties for harmless infractions that once would have brought a rap on the knuckles or a few hours of detention, if that.

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