Court Opinion

ID: 9706549
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:46:10.59467+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:23.523656
License: Public Domain

LÓPEZ, Justice,
concurring.
Even though the majority’s opinion is legally correct, I respectfully concur in the results only. I am fully aware of the circumstances which brought about Jose’s expulsion from school, but there are times when the law seems unusually harsh and begs for some type of bending. This is such a case.
According to the record, Jose was a good student prior to the event that led to this proceeding. Although school administrators expelled Jose for setting fire to a school bus, formal charges were never filed against this young man. Despite an apparent lack of evidence to pursue formal charges, the school board expelled Jose for the duration of the academic year.
School administrators bear tremendous responsibility for protecting the youth in our schools. Such responsibility often calls for swift action to ensure the safety of our students. While school districts are expected to protect our students, they are also tasked with educating them. Denying a student an alternative form of education does not meet this task.
In this case, a rule of law prevents Jose from continuing his education despite a well-intended effort to enable this young man to at least attend an alternative education program. Who won in this contest? Who benefitted? Surely, all of us, including Jose, lost something in this courtroom drama. I hope that Jose will accept this ordeal as a wake-up call, and that he will strive to complete his education and to become a productive member of his community. Each of our individual actions have consequences. Lessons learned as a child can save us years of misery in the future.
I also hope that the school district will rethink its position. Instances such as the one that led to this proceeding will occur again in the future. Certainly youthful offenders must be punished if other students are to be protected. But refusing alternative education is a perplexing position considering this State’s high school drop-out rate. We all suffer from an uneducated population. Surely school districts can find a way to punish while educating. Taking a child’s education is a drastic remedy that should be employed only when the student serves as an actual threat to his teachers and fellow students.