MA: Indian students are allowed to bring 8" dagger to school in the Hopkinton Public Schoo

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Massachusetts Public School District Permits Sikh Students to Carry Knives While Banning Weapons for All Other Students
Hopkinton Public Schools in Massachusetts has a policy that carves out a specific religious exception to its strict no-weapons rule, allowing initiated Sikh students to carry a ceremonial knife known as a kirpan on school grounds, while prohibiting knives, guns, replicas, and other weapons for every other student.

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Under the Kirpan Wear on Campus agreement, the student must have a “deeply held religious belief” and have completed the Amrit Pahul initiation ceremony, maintain a record of “appropriate school behavior,” and the blade must be dull, no longer than 3.0 inches, sheathed and secured, and worn under clothing at all times so it is not visible.

Superintendent Carol Cavanaugh said during a 2024 School Committee meeting that some Sikh students already wore the kirpan under their clothing as a “required article of faith.”

“We wanted to ensure that this was also reflected in our policy…there are students who carry kirpans; it is their religious right to do so,” she said, according to a report from Hop News at the time.

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) praised the district for becoming the first in Massachusetts to accommodate the practice, calling it a “significant step forward in recognizing religious rights.”

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