The Tucson Unified School District is currently investigating an incident at Tucson High school, having to do with a "senior ditch day," this one ending up with unforseen consequences.
"I cannot convey to you the details of what it is that we are investigating," TUSD Assistant Superintendent Abel said. "We will follow this, we will fact find, and then we follow our protocols and apply our rules."
Administration at Tucson High School acquired a photo taken of students at a senior ditch day party on Wednesday.
According to the parent of a student in the photo, the party was broken up by police because of under age drinking.
The photo was acquired by school administration. It was then blown up and posted with the following note:
All students in the photo were told to go home by administration and that they could return to school the following day.
One teacher who wished to remain anonymous believes it is a good way to remind students of school policy. This teacher was also very concerned that kids were irresponsibly drinking alcohol, underage. However, the district -- though upset that students were not in school -- believes the administration should have handled it differently.
"It was not the right way to handle it. It is inconsistent with our procedures and our protocols," Morado said. "And that's something that we're currently addressing."
As for a senior ditch day happening this early on in the year, one student who was in class thought many teachers were aware of the day.
"Most of the teachers knew it was a senior ditch day," student Marcus McCauley said. "I mean, they knew it was a tradition that the seniors do. So I mean, I think they took it out of proportion really."
However, McCauley -- a student-athlete -- said that students do know the policies, and should be aware of what consequences they could face for breaking the rules.
"As athletes, you're supposed to show up for school. We have our rules, and you know, if you miss a day of school, you miss practice. And if you miss practice, you miss a quarter of the game," he said. "So really, that was their punishment. They knew better, they knew the standards for what they had to do."
Morado explained he would have liked the situation handled in a more private setting.
"If we find out that students are involved in violating the rules, that is something that needs to be handled in the privacy of the administrators office," he said. "And working closesly with their parents, individually."
