School apologizes for punishment of blind student, father accepts

A Missouri school district has apologized for taking a cane away from a blind student and forcing him to use a foam tube called a pool noodle, the boy’s father said on Friday.

Earlier this week, North Kansas School District confiscated the cane of 8-year-old Dakota Nafzinger, who was born without eyes, after he reportedly swung it on a bus. A teacher gave the boy the foam tube instead, said his father Don Nafzinger.

The school district, which serves more than 19,000 students in Kansas City, Missouri, said in a statement it made a mistake.

“I accept their apology and just want my kid to be safe and treated like any other child with disabilities,” Don Nafzinger said.

The school has returned the cane to Dakota, who was instructed on how to use it when he attended the Kansas State School for the Blind, according to his father.

“It was a rash decision on their part, but looking at it from their (perspective), they took it from him so he won’t hurt anybody,” he said.