As part of his school’s spirit week, Dan Depaolis, a senior at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School in the Boston area, was suspended for dressing as a medieval knight and riding a horse to school. If anything, he should be getting an award, not a suspension:
What he, and his parents, thought was a good-natured stunt, the school deemed dangerous. Depaolis was suspended from school for two days.
The vice principal allegedly suspended the 17-year-old even after the boy’s father explained that the horse was brought in on a trailer and that no one was in danger.
Depaolis is an honor roll student, while his mother is an experienced equestrian. If any high school student was ever qualified to ride a horse to school, it was this kid. However, the principal likened the equine entrance to brining a loaded gun to school.
Depaolis and his squire, who was suspended for one day, were both banned from Saturday’s Halloween dance.