High School Expulsion

            It was not long after the Columbine tragedy that I was a senior in high school. As a result of this tragedy, many schools in the United States were undergoing massive changes. My school was no exception. The school district had installed video cameras all over and now employed hall monitors to patrol at all times.  Also, students were only allowed to enter and exit the school through the main entrance. Every morning there was a woman who sat at a desk in front of the door and watched all the students enter the building, I have no idea what she was looking for. This was especially a hassle for the students who drove to school. The student parking lot was on the south end of the building, and the only allowed entrance was on the complete other side of the building. The school was located at the top of a large hill, so in the winter it would really be an unpleasant adventure. Perhaps the worst aspect of all this, was the fact that it was completely and utter nonsense. 

            Don’t ask me how these changes could prevent an attack by armed gunmen, but I’m sure it was expensive. The transformation that the school had undergone from my first year through my final year was massive. Basically, all they had done is turn the school into a minimum security jail. They began to tolerate very little in the form of horseplay also. They now employed a “Dean of Students”, who literally was a former prison guard. The guy was a nightmare, and since it was his first year, he was ready to make an example out of some students to flex his muscles.

            The school year was still young when many of the students were already sick and tired of the hall monitors. Everywhere I went, I would get stopped; “Got a pass”? What does a hall pass do exactly? It proves that you asked if you could go take a piss? Do they only give passes to people who are not crazed gunmen? Our school also had “free periods”, which meant that upperclassmen would sometimes have no class to be in. It was a luxury afforded to those students who had already met certain academic criteria. During these periods, students would usually go to the library, cafeteria, or just roam the halls. However, now students on free periods were designated to only a couple areas. They had to report to these designated areas and were no longer allowed to roam free. The hall monitors carried these expensive walkee-talkees in order to communicate with each other. Why this job requires such a tool is beyond me.

           
      Anyways, this one day I was on my way to class when I was stopped by a hall monitor; “Got a pass”? Now, students are allowed approximately 5 minutes between classes to make their way to their next class. At the end of this grace period, a second bell would ring signifying the beginning of the next class. This particular hall monitor, Mrs Trap, was the most annoying person in the entire world. She just had something about her that really bothered me, and so her; “Got a pass”, comment would always irk me a little extra for some reason.

            So, when she had asked me for a pass when it was still between bells, well, it really struck a nerve. I asked her; “For what reason are you asking me for a pass? The bell has not even rung yet”. I was trying to be polite to her, even though I was very annoyed. She began to follow me down the hall and speak into her wallkee-talkee. “Why are you harassing me for? All I am doing is walking to class”. She of course had no answer for me, I think that she realized she was in the wrong. I again asked her; “Why are you following me? I already told you, I don’t have a pass because I don’t need one. The bell hasn't rang yet, I still have like 2 minutes”.

            She still has no response for me and kept following me. “Leave me alone and stop harassing me! What is the matter with you”? She still says nothing and keeps following me down 3 separate hallways. I would stop and she would stop. So, out of anger and frustration, I began to give it back to her.
 “Ok buddy, come on buddy”, I began to pat my leg like she were a Labrador retriever. I continued to do this until I got to my class. "Come on Bud", I said, as she continued to follow me silently.

            Then, just as I arrive at my classroom, a guidance counselor crosses our paths and says; “What are you doing? Don’t talk to her like that”, she scolded. I tell her; “You don’t even know what is going on. This woman is harassing me for no reason”. I enter my classroom just as the bell finally rings. All of the students take their seats and the teacher begins to take attendance as usual.

            A moment later, the guidance counselor walks into the classroom and starts talking to my teacher. Then she points at me and the teacher and all the students look at me. I stand up and very angrily say;

“Why are you pointing at me? Why don’t you mind your own business? I was being harassed for no reason and then you get involved? It had nothing to do with you, and you just jump into my business? Just because I am the student and she is an adult, I must automatically be in the wrong? Get the fuck out of my classroom you stupid bitch”! I was shaking out of anger.

         The class was in awe. I was so upset that it felt like I could breathe smoke and shoot fire out of my ears. I was so sick of staff treating us like prisoners, it wasn't fair. It would have been a lot easier to accept this type of treatment if we had been warned prior to the beginning of the school year.

         When I first started at that school, there would be a group of people sitting on the guard rail in the south parking lot smoking marijuana at all times of the day. But by the time I was a senior, you couldn't get away with a loud fart.
         As a punishment for going off on the guidance counselor, I had ended up getting suspended for a few days. A few weeks later, I through a small roll of masking tape during class and it accidentally hit a substitute teacher in the head. He tried to sent me to the principals office, but I denied throwing it. We went on with the rest of the class, and that was it.
       The next day I was called down to the principals office and suspended indefinitely. I admit that it was a stupid thing to have done, but I swear that I didn't mean to hit him with it. Also, it was a really soft roll of tape and thrown very soft. There is no way that it could have actually hurt him. They made such a big deal out of it tho. I ended up being suspended for like a month, and then I had to have a superintendents hearing with school attorneys and a stenographer. It was ridiculous. I apologized to the teacher extensively. I told him that I was being an idiot and that I did not mean to hit him. They didn't care. They brought in witnesses who gave false testimonies and made me feel like a criminal. These students who gave false statements later told me that the Dean had persuaded them to tear me down. The Dean also sent a police officer to my home to try to scare me. I told this police officer the truth. I explained to him that the Dean just had it out for me and truly hated me for some reason. The officer was very understanding and he actually apologized to me several times for being a jerk when he had first arrived.
      The school board decided to expel me from school. I was not allowed to attend prom, graduation, or any school related function for one calendar year. I was devastated to say the least. They did however, agree to pay for my home-schooling for the final few months so I could graduate on time. I would say that I am disgusted with the school district and especially the Dean. But, one of the home-schooling teachers ended up changing my life.