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. The policy, formally created in 2024, makes Hopkinton the first school district in the state to explicitly