An honor student and star athlete at a Minneapolis high school was suspended for seven weeks after he jokingly tweeted that he “made out” with a teacher.
And now the 17-year-old, Reid Sagehorn, will have to continue his senior year at another school.
Trouble began for the teen — captain of the Rogers High School football and basketball teams — when he answered a post on an unofficial forum that asked him if he’d ever “made out” with a 28-year-old teacher.
“Actually, yes,” read the two-word response Sagehorn posted to his Twitter account.
Sagehorn, a National Honor Society member with a 3.8 grade-point average, told the Star-Tribune that he planned to apologize to the teacher the next day — but she didn’t show up for work.
“I thought everybody would take it as a joke,” he told the newspaper on Saturday.
The next thing he remembers is being called down the principal’s office and suspended.
“I think it’s definitely important that everybody who has heard about the story know how sincerely sorry I am,” he told the paper. “No matter how I meant it, (it) doesn’t matter. … Sarcasm doesn’t belong on the Internet.”
Last week, police said they were investigating whether the teen could be hit with a felony charge of defamation — but concluded that no crime was committed.
Attorneys representing the teen said police and school overreacted to the teen’s comments.
“In my opinion, the police chief must be an imbecile and the superintendent is not far behind,” said one lawyer, Joe Friedberg.
The teen — who plans to attend North Dakota University in the fall — was expected to start attending classes this week at another Elk River School District school, but it was not clear which one.
Dozens of parents crammed into a school board meeting on Monday night to discuss whether the nearly two-month suspension was fair.
“You’re talking about a 17-year-old boy who made an impulsive decision,” said one parent, Shauna Eicher, according to the Star-Tribune. “The punishment did not fit the crime.”
But officials reminded the parents that the teacher was also a victim.
“We’re here to support our teacher,” said Bill Hjertstedt, president of the Elk River Education Association. “At some point, this has to be resolved. How do we move forward in a positive way, without doing more harm.”
