Teen kicked out of school for kissing girlfriend: mom

By SCOTT EDMONDS

WINNIPEG (CP) - He knew the rule - don't kiss in school - and now Donnie Wood is out for good.

But his mother and a Winnipeg lawyer are asking the courts to change that, and send the 17-year-old back to the high school he was expelled from after kissing his girlfriend at a dance. "We've been trying for the past year and a half to get him back into school and they just won't let him," his mother Lynne Wood said Wednesday. So they've filed a lawsuit with Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench, claiming the Midland School Division's November 2001 decision should be quashed and Wood reinstated.

Lawyer Norman Boudreau says it has to happen fast because once Wood turns 18 in September, it's easy for the division to refuse to accept him back since he will be an adult. He was in Grade 10 when he was expelled.

The saga unfolded in Miami, Man., a town of 400 along the CN rail line, 100 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, in territory sometimes referred to as Manitoba's Bible Belt.

Don and Lynne Wood have raised their four children on a farm outside town and all four have gone to Miami Collegiate.

Lynne said Donnie was no angel but was never in serious trouble, always attended school, played sports and got decent marks.

She said the school rule under principal Gloria Penner forbid boys and girls from kissing and touching.

"You can't even give a person a hug in school . . . that's called inappropriate behaviour," she said.

On Nov. 8, 2001, Donnie and his girlfriend were spotted kissing at a school dance. Lynne said Donnie was scolded and suspended while the girl was not disciplined.

"She said, 'Donnie got a suspension and I got nothing, how fair is that?' "

Lynne pulled her son out of school and told them he'd be back in a week. When he returned, Penner told him he was expelled. The decision was upheld by the school division during an appeal process during which, said Lynne, she had to fight to just be allowed to argue her case.

Penner and school superintendent Fred Colvin could not be reached for comment.

To complicate matters, Wood is also suing a former teacher over an assault years ago that resulted in the teacher being fired and his name put on Manitoba's child abuse registry.

Wood says she believes the two incidents are linked and her insistence the teacher be disciplined contributed to bad feelings against her son.

Meanwhile, Donnie has tried to continue his schooling through an adult education program run out of nearby Carman.

But his mother says it lacks the structure he needs, not to mention the companionship of friends.

"Adult ed is independent study. You do it yourself. He just couldn't function with that."