Independence, Mo. May 23:
A senior at Truman High School will not be allowed to walk in his graduation because of a prank he pulled.
Kylan Scheele, 18, admits to posting an ad on Friday that listed Truman High School for sale; he said it was meant to be a joke.
“Other people were going to release live mice or, you know, building a beach in the front lobby area, and I thought let’s do something more laid back, so I just decided to post the school for sale,” Kylan said.
The ad listed several amenities including the schools newly built athletic fields, plenty of parking and a “bigger than normal dining room.” The Independence School District took issue with Kylan’s reason for the sale, which he wrote was “due to the loss of students coming up.”
“I decided to say the reason we’re selling this is because of ‘the loss of students,’ because the senior class is graduating,” Kylan explained.
Kylan was notified that he was suspended for the remainder of the school and would not walk in Saturday’s graduation.
“A three-day suspension, sure, but denying me the ability to walk, that’s a lifetime moment,” Kylan said. “I think they’re overreacting.”
“He went and apologized and tried to make things right and in return they give him the harshest punishment possible,” Kylan’s mom, Denetra Clark said.
Detectives with the Independence Police Department investigated the incident and found no probable cause or reason to pursue criminal charges. They had Kylan delete the post and advised him to talk to school adminstrators.
“They [detectives] didn’t see a credible threat,” Clark said. “They all kind of had a little chuckle about it but they wanted him to understand you could see how other people could see it as a threat.” “They tried to relate it back to all the recent school shootings and everything--they tried tying it back to that--but I don’t see how it was a threat at all,” Kylan said.
- fox4kc.com