Mike Donahue

MESQUITE – The Clark County School District "abuses the constitutional rights" of students and treats them like prisoners in a "prison camp," insisted Mesquite resident Ryan Bundy, who last week pulled his five children from Virgin Valley schools.

Bundy, son of Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy, who last spring led an armed confrontation with the Bureau of Land Management told the Desert Valley Times Thursday that although his decision to pursue other educational options for his children stemmed from an incident involving his 15-year-old daughter, the incident was only a small part of his motivation.

Ryan Bundy's daughter was barred from carrying a pocketknife at Virgin Valley High School, a move Ryan Bundy said violated the girl's rights.

"First of all, I've always taught my kids that a pocketknife is a tool," he said. "It's a basic tool of life on the ranch and they're supposed to always have it with them."

CCSD officials said its policy and state law defines a pocketknife as a weapon that is not allowed on school property, and they are merely following that policy.

Ryan Bundy said by prohibiting his daughter from carrying her knife, the school district was essentially "treating her like a criminal."

"Simply having a pocketknife shouldn't be a crime," he said. "There's nothing right about that.

"It's not the knife, it's the mentality," he continued. "The school wants everybody to conform and it's just not right. Although they haven't started it here (in Virgin Valley), the elementary in Logandale and other schools in Las Vegas march the kids around like a bunch of little Nazis. The kids are not allowed any free time because they're (school officials) afraid of fights. Well, if the schools are that bad, if that's where the schools are, I don't want my children involved.

Clark County students are told they have no rights, Ryan Bundy insisted.

"When my daughter got a school locker they wanted to give her a lock," he said. "I said 'No, I'll give her a lock.' They told me, 'Okay, but when we search her locker, we'll have to cut it off if it's not ours.'

"Search her locker?" Ryan Bundy asked. "A search for no reason is a gross violation of her constitutional rights. The point is, it's control. They (school officials) want to control everything. I can't believe we've allowed our society to get to that point. That mentality, I just won't put up with it."

Ryan Bundy, who has seven children, five of whom are school age including three who attended Virgin Valley Elementary School one in Charles A. Hughes Middle School and one in VVHS, said he hasn't yet made a decision on how his children will be educated.