Shelton High senior has a date, but can't go to the prom

Shelton seniors Sonali Rodrigues and James Tate stand outside Shelton High School Tuesday, May 10, 2011. Tate asked Rodrigues to the prom by posting a message on the wall behind them. She said yes but he is now prohibited from attending the school's prom as punishment for trespassing to post the sign. less Shelton seniors Sonali Rodrigues and James Tate stand outside Shelton High School Tuesday, May 10, 2011. Tate asked Rodrigues to the prom by posting a message on the wall behind them. She said yes but he is ... more Photo: Autumn Driscoll Buy photo Photo: Autumn Driscoll Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Shelton High senior has a date, but can't go to the prom 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

SHELTON -- It began as a simple gesture. Shelton High School senior James Tate just wanted to make his good friend, Sonali Rodrigues, feel special.

So instead of the usual way of asking her to the senior prom, Tate and two friends went to the high school campus in the middle of the night and posted 12-inch tall, cardboard letters on the outside of the building -- at the main entrance.

The message that many saw when they arrived to school Friday, read: "Sonali Rodrigues, Will you go to prom with me? HMU Tate."

She said yes.

"It took a lot of effort," said Tate.

He posted the letters, one at a time, in a "safe and thoughtful way" to avoid trouble.

But, it appears, that didn't work out.

Because of what he did, Tate can't go to the prom.

Tuesday, after meeting with his headmaster, Tate and his two friends were each given one-day, in-house suspensions and banned from the prom. Tate was told the administration felt what they did was a safety risk.

But the teen said he took every precaution when he posted the message early Friday, sometime between 1 and 3 a.m.

"I had one friend hold the ladder while the other put double-sided tape on the letters," he said. Tate said he also wore a helmet.

He was told another reason for the suspensions was that they trespassed on school grounds.

"I didn't enter the school at all," he said. And while the front gates to the school were locked, Tate said he and his friends were able to get onto the grounds on a footpath.

Tate said that, according to school regulations, if you get suspended after April 1, you can't go to the prom.

"I tried to appeal -- tried to just get a detention instead," he said. "I even offered to do community service -- like cleaning up the litter outside the school."

But he said nothing worked.

"Now I have a date for the prom, but can't go," he said.

"This is ridiculous," said Rodrigues. "James is one of my best friends and we are both good kids who never got in trouble. I've never been to the principal's office except to get an award."

Rodrigues was also called to the headmaster's office Tuesday morning. "They just asked me some questions, like would I still go to the prom if James couldn't," she said.

She will go, with a girlfriend, whose boyfriend has also been suspended for an unrelated incident.

"This is really upsetting," she said. "It's our senior year and we are supposed to have happy memories, not something like this."

Shelton High School Headmaster Beth Smith did not return calls for comment Tuesday. Superintendent Freeman Burr declined comment, referring all questions to Smith.

Anne M. Amato can be reached at 203-330-6496 or at aamato@ctpost.com.