Stunning
With her senior year winding down, 18-year-old Amanda Conroy, an honor roll student at Barron Collier High School in Naples, Fla., looked forward to the prom, graduation, and college. But that’s before she drove her mother’s car to school after her own broke down. A random search turned up her mother’s stun gun in the car. The assistant principal, citing the district’s “zero tolerance” policy toward weapons on campus, ordered a 5-day suspension — and no prom. The principal increased the punishment to 10 days — and no graduation ceremony. Then Assistant Superintendent Michele Lugo ordered the punishment be increased to expulsion — and no diploma. Conroy’s father says Lugo told him that “things would go better” for Amanda if he didn’t hire a lawyer or talk to the media. He declined. The resulting publicity caused the school to back down: they allowed Amanda to go to the prom, finish her school work in an “alternative” school, and graduate with her class. (Bonita Daily News) ...In the ZT biz, that’s called “a successful outcome.”
Available in This is True: Book Collection Vol. 10