An 11-year-old honors student who packed a knife in her lunch box to cut a piece of chicken was expelled and arrested on charges of bringing a weapon to school.

"Mom was busy, and dad had gone to work," Charlotte Kirk said, explaining how she packed the smooth-edge knife with her leftover peas, chicken and apple on Oct. 18.The sixth-grader said she never even took the knife out of her lunch box. She asked a teacher if it was OK to use it and was told "no" and got a lecture.

Charlotte then tried to eat her lunch, tearing the chicken with her fingers. "But I didn't eat a lot," she said. "I was too upset."

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As she was leaving school with her father, she was arrested. She was later told she was expelled.

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