We’ve all been there: The music of Michael Jackson comes on and one has the primal urge to bust a move. Arms flail. A leg is kicked high in the air. Inevitably, thrillingly, a hand or two goes awfully close to the mid-section.
Administrators at a Catholic school in Minnesota are meeting Monday with the parent of a nine-year-old boy suspended for imitating Jacko's lewd dance moves at the school-sponsored event, according to reports.
The boy’s mother, Mindy Boberg, said St. Stanislaus Elementary School didn't have a problem with Lenny’s MJ dance moves in the past, including at the Winona Area Catholic Schools’ Parent-Teacher-Partnership rehearsal last week, according to the Winona Daily News.
But after Lenny’s performance of “Billie Jean,” St. Stan’s principal Pat Bowlin told them that instances when the boy reached for his groin area were in fact violations of the school’s "gross misconduct" policy. Lenny was suspended indefinitely.
The school declined to comment Monday when reached by HLN.
The school’s student handbook states that, “In cases of gross misconduct, the principal has the authority to immediately suspend or expel a student and will follow such action with appropriate steps ... Gross misconduct is defined to include, but is not limited to, conduct which creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm to another person or serious damage to the property of the school or another person, or conduct which substantially impairs the discipline and order of the school environment.”
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Boberg says her son is being unfairly ostracized. Some students at the event performed wearing underwear; others did a dance shaking their “tail feathers,” according to the Daily News.
Last Thursday night, Bowlin reportedly sent an email to all the district’s staff and families apologizing for the boy’s dance moves.
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