Story Archive

You Can’t Be Serious

When a student arrived at Pueblo County High School in Pueblo, Colo., wearing a trench coat and gas mask, other students freaked out and notified teachers. “That teacher reported it to administration right away,” says District 70 Superintendent Ed Smith. “Administration went to the scene, and escorted the individual to the office.” The girl involved had no weapons, and explained the outfit was her Halloween costume. Yet the school called the police, who brought in their SWAT team to sweep the school; they found no weapons or other cause of concern. Naturally, the school realized it overreacted and gave the girl a one-day in-school suspension, and that’s the end of the story, right? Not in a zero-tolerance environment: the school has started expulsion proceedings against the girl. “Because of the world we live in now,” Smith says, “we take all those kinds of things very seriously.” (RC/KKTV Colorado Springs) ...Maybe someday, schools will take their educational mission even half as seriously.