Suspended Cascade senior won't be allowed to return to school

Everett School District superintendent Carol Whitehead -- at the center of numerous student free expression controversies the last two years -- has decided not to allow David Whittemore to return to Cascade High School after he was suspended 10 days for using school computers to download files for the Free Stehekin, an underground publication.

In her decision, Whitehead said Whittemore -- who lives outside the ESD boundaries and needs a waiver to attend Cascade -- was not sufficiently remorseful and had a track record of truancy.

"He indicated no remorse for his defiant behavior, although he did state he was sorry he had been caught for his infractions," Whitehead wrote.

Whittemore said he felt he had shown remorse and had tearfully pleaded to return.

"Apparently breaking down into apologetic tears isn't a good enough sorry for a minor infraction regarding the misuse of a school computer, from which I had already been suspended for 10 days over," he said.

Oh, and the teacher who was involved is still on administrative leave as she continues to be investigated for her role.

You can read more about the background here. Whitehead also is part of the lawsuit against the ESD brought by a pair of former students which is slated to go to trial in September. Keep an eye out for that, as we'll have plenty of reporting here.