As sure as the sun rises in the east, some kids will get in trouble in school. Just ask high school assistant principals who spend their days dealing with incidents ranging from name calling in the hallways to weapons in backpacks.
But no matter what students do -- or are accused of doing -- they deserve the right to tell their side of the story.
A Minneapolis family's recent challenge to the discipline their son received highlights that point.
Since 2006, an average of 277 Minneapolis students a year were sent to different schools under the district's administrative-transfer policy. School principals can move students out of one school and into another one for any reason -- with or without the student's consent.
Donald Kaplan and Thea Nelson didn't just accept their child's forced transfer. In a suit filed earlier this year, they said their son JK (as he was identified in court papers to protect his privacy) was suspended, then shipped off to another school, without due process.
They asked the court to allow him to stay at Southwest High because changing schools would disrupt plans to play sports and continue in the International Baccalaureate program and would affect his ability to get into a top-notch college.
JK was disciplined because of an incident at a school-sponsored baseball training trip to Florida last March. The teenager was wrestling with a friend and had him pinned down. Another student exposed his genitals in the friend's face, a demeaning act known as "tea bagging."
The Southwest principal learned about the incident a month later and called JK to his office. JK told the principal what he knew about what happened and professed his innocence.