The Fate of Tate

You probably have heard the story about, James Tate, the senior from Shelton, CT who is not allowed to attend his high school prom.

The story made national news and is still a story because the principal, Dr. Beth Smith, is not backing down from her ruling. Instead, the principal is standing on principle…and not leaning. Holding ground. You get the picture.

There is a huge campaign on Facebook and Twitter to allow Tate to attend his prom. But that would mean…breaking the rules. As the high school principal has said, “Rules are Rules…and stick and stones, may break my bones.” (Maybe not that last part.)

The school rule is straight forward…with no electric slide steps backwards…or macarena sidesteps: If a student is given an in-school suspension after April 1st…the student is not allowed to attend the prom.

But does the punishment fit the crime?
Tate’s crime? Asking his date to the prom…by taping the question on cardboard letters to the outside wall of this high school building.

Anywhooooooooo…………………….
I’m still weighing in on how I feel. Part of me is Team Tate…and the other is Team Principle Principal.
Geez...It’s not like Tate wrote on the building in paint, or hammered nails, or worse…used Gorilla Glue…which can bond fingers permanently together. It was freaking tape. A little rain…and that prom proposal is slip sliding away.

But then again…for the school, it is a safety issue…code for suing issue. PLUS the principal is simply following a rule that was already in place.

There is an upside for Tate….look at all the attention he is getting. He’s famous…or is it infamous? There were also two other boys involved who held the ladder for him. They were also suspended and will not be allowed entry to the prom. Do we even know their names? Why don’t they rate? They received the same fate as Tate. (Wouldn’t it be cool if one was named Nate?)

Maybe the school administration will lean and eventually cave in…like my lemon chiffon cake. Facebook has a way of bringing change. Look at what happened to Egyptian President Mubarak. Eat Cake Mubarak.


In a case like this…I believe in concessions. (I usually get the large popcorn). I believe in compromise…with the two sides coming together.

I got it….Let James Tate go to the prom…with his high school principal.