`PAT' GETS SCHOOL IN DITHER.

Byline: Associated Press 

It started with a first-grader's ``love pat'' on a teacher's behind.

The teacher talked to the principal, who talked to the district superintendent. School officials then called the Delaware Attorney General's Office for clarification on a controversial state law against ``offensive touching.''

On Thursday, cooler heads prevailed. The matter was dropped.

``The glove did not fit. This was not a criminal act,'' Tony Marchio, superintendent of the Appoquinimink School District, said after meeting with the girl's mother, Gerrie Martin.

It all began during an afternoon recess at Silver Lake Elementary School in Middletown, when 6-year-old Stephanie Martin poked teacher Laurie Wicks on the buttocks.

``She said she was giving her a love pat. It's something she and I do. I never dreamt it would come to this,'' Gerrie Martin said. ``She said, `I was just saying hi to her.' In her mind, she has no idea why she is in trouble.''

Gerrie Martin said her daughter has done nothing but cry since Monday, when the school said it was considering suspending Stephanie.

School administrators said their hands were tied because the 4-year-old law requires them to notify authorities of possible crimes such as offensive touching, school assaults, extortion and crimes involving weapons and drugs.

School officials can be fined $250 the first time they fail to report a possible crime and $500 the second time.

Marchio said the initial feeling was that the school had little choice but to obey the law. Now, he feels it's wiser to ``use common sense and let that prevail.''