Teen Suspended for Bringing Horse to School

Superintendent praises creativity, but no animals allowed on school grounds
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 2, 2010 4:08 PM CDT
Teen Suspended for Bringing Horse to School
A horse--not Pierre--is shown.   (Flickr)

Good idea: Dressing up as a knight to celebrate your school’s spirit week. Bad idea: Riding an actual horse to school as part of the costume. Dan DePaolis, 17, was suspended from his Massachusetts high school when school officials found him in the parking lot on the horse; a friend accompanying him—dressed as a squire—was also punished.

“They told my son it’s the equivalent of bringing in a loaded firearm to school,” DePaolis’ father tells the Boston Globe; but he argues that Dan “brought the spirit up of the student body.” Though horses are a common sight in their town of Hamilton, school officials were not notified before the stunt and were concerned Pierre, the family’s horse, could become spooked and injure students.
(More Massachusetts stories.)

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