A teenage boy in Texas insisted against his mother’s judgment that he attend school two days after his father’s murder.

Instead of offering counseling or giving the kid a bit of leeway to grieve, school officials that witnessed the teen’s bloodshot eyes assumed he’d been smoking doobs and suspended him. His mom, Cristy Fritz, told local media she was shocked by the callous handling of her son’s situation:

I am sure he had a lot on his mind going to school. I had asked him not to go to school,” said Cristy Fritz. Before returning to class Kyler had to go to the office to get a tardy slip. That’s when school employees accused him of being high because he had red and watery eyes. Fritz said she got a call from administrators who told her Kyler would be suspended for three days. “I was pleading with her to understand the severity of the situation, his emotional well being. How could they do this to him at this time? What are the alternatives?” she said.

Kyler Robertson’s father was stabbed to death the Sunday prior to Kyler’s Tuesday suspension. Even after his mother explained the circumstances, school officials insisted she visit a doctor to have him drug tested before he was allowed to return to classes. The results were negative. Fritz fumed:

We had other things to do this week than worry about a three day window for an appeal, a two hour window for a drug test and my son’s reputation and high school career,” she said.

She is currently appealing to have the suspension stricken from her son’s permanent record.

[MyFoxDFW via Fark]