Prom Proposal Works, But Gets Shelton [CT] Student Barred From Prom

[CTLawGuy]

This one hits fairly close to home, though I am not from Shelton...

http://www.courant.com/community/shelton...4868.story
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By HILLARY FEDERICO, hfederico@courant.com

The Hartford Courant

1:42 p.m. EDT, May 11, 2011
SHELTON —— Online petitions and national media attention have apparently failed to get Shelton school administrators to reverse their ban on James Tate attending his senior prom.

Tate got himself into trouble when he and two friends taped letters outside the school entrance asking a girl to go to the prom with him. The girl, Sonali Rodrirugez, said yes, but school administrators said no.

They suspended Tate from school for a day and barred him from attending the prom.

And then the story went national, with coverage from the cable networks, National Public Radio and newspapers all over the country. There's also a Facebook group called Let James Tate Go To The Prom that had more than 20,000 members by Wednesday afternoon.

Shelton Superintendent Freeman Burr issued a press release Wednesday afternoon that seemed to indicate the attention was doing nothing to sway administrators' decision.

"In response to your recent inquiry, I am aware of the local, state and national media attention surrounding the situation and I have no further comments regarding the matter at this time," the release from Burr reads.

The prom proposal was taped to the school's exterior wall on Friday. The letters read, "Sonali Rodriguez, will you go to the prom with me? HMU [Hit me up] — Tate."

"I just wanted to take her to prom," James said. "I was waiting for a special time, a special way to ask her. I figured people would see the sincerity of what I did."

...

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This is the twisted result of zero tolerance policies.... I feel horrible for both James and Sonali.


Here's is a FB group created to support James Tate. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Let-Jam...1672121334

[RoyGBiv]

Ummm ... What exactly did he do? Was taping the proposal interpreted as vandalism or something?

[CTLawGuy]

(05-12-2011 06:16 PM)RoyGBiv Wrote:  Ummm ... What exactly did he do? Was taping the proposal interpreted as vandalism or something?

I think the rationale was that he was trespassing on school grounds and engaging in dangerous activities (i.e. standing on a ladder in the middle of the night taping letters to the facade of the school)

[RoyGBiv]

(05-12-2011 07:24 PM)CTLawGuy Wrote:  

(05-12-2011 06:16 PM)RoyGBiv Wrote:  Ummm ... What exactly did he do? Was taping the proposal interpreted as vandalism or something?

I think the rationale was that he was trespassing on school grounds and engaging in dangerous activities (i.e. standing on a ladder in the middle of the night taping letters to the facade of the school)

Huh.

In my day, I suppose I wouldn't have made it past 8th grade. I certainly wouldn't have made it past my junior year.

[Cha]

That's a bummer..so creative in his invitation but a giant hardliner NO from the School Admin.

He'll definitely remember the prom that wasn't and so will his non prom date.

[Born_A_Truman]

This is BS! He didn't spray paint the school. My dad and his brothers' pranks in HS were much more onry.

[NJMaverick]

This is the sort of irrational behavior that gives the educational system a bad name. Sometimes school administrators need to start using some common sense.