Northpinellas: Mom asks court to intervene in graduation

SEMINOLE -- The mother of a once-suspended Osceola High student has asked a court to force the Pinellas School District to allow her daughter to walk with her classmates at graduation.

In a motion for an emergency injunction, Tammie Lockwood of Largo says her daughter Crystal Little "will forever lose the opportunity to walk at graduation with her class" unless a court intervenes.

Crystal Little was suspended from Osceola High in March and recommended for an alternative school after her softball coach accused her of smelling of alcohol.

Crystal told her coach that she had a sip of peach schnapps at a friend's house before coming to school for team pictures. But, when questioned later, Crystal denied that she had sipped any schnapps and said she told her coach that she had drank schnapps only to keep her friend from getting in trouble alone.

Crystal's mother immediately took her for a blood-alcohol test, which the family says showed no alcohol in Crystal's blood. Still, the school followed the Pinellas district's policy and suspended Crystal. She has missed Grad Nite and the senior prom.

The court has not yet scheduled a hearing on the motion.

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