Schools almost never have that power, but zero-tolerance policies typically mean that police officers are brought in to deal with almost any situation. Once police officers are handling what ought to be simple disciplinary action, it's easy for a student to get charged with something like assaulting a teacher, and then it's almost certain that social services will be involved, and they <i>can</i> take kids away from their parents.<p>This whole process could be triggered by a small child throwing a pencil, and if none of the bureaucrats speak up on behalf of common sense, things can quickly escalate until there are serious investigations into whether the child needs to be removed from the home.