This is precisely why it was important to tell the Simonite story in some detail. It's hardly surprising that what many consider the city's premier school district isn't the only one dealing with students who get in trouble in ways that confuse zero tolerance with zero common sense. Alamo Heights administrators and trustees acted out of the same pressures that we all feel. We're terrified of drugs and violence in schools. Our fear for our children and of our children translates into mandates to get tough.
Legislators respond, and so do many school administrators.
He confessed immediately when questioned about it, led the assistant principal to the hidden joint, and told who had sold it to him. The school official denied the boy's request to call his mother, and called police. The parents accepted the punishment of juvenile court, and said they would accept severe punishment from the district. The school, the parents said, should hand out a serious punishment that did not deprive their son of his education. Most of the heavy response I've received to the story has been from people who are appalled at the district's actions.