Boy's prom invite gets him banned

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SHELTON, Conn., May 11 (UPI) -- A Connecticut high school senior who invited a girl to the prom by posting the message on the outside of a school building ended up banned from the dance.

James Tate, a student at Shelton High School, told Hearst Newspapers he taped the letters in a "safe and thoughtful way" late Friday and even wore a helmet while he climbed a ladder. But school officials apparently decided sneaking on campus in the middle of the night was out-of-bounds behavior.

Tate's message read: "Sonali Rodrigues, Will you go to prom with me? HMU Tate."

Tate and his two assistants were given one-day suspensions. Shelton High rules are that anyone suspended after April 1 is banned from 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. Now I have a date for the prom, but can't go."

Rodrigues still plans to go to the prom. Her date is another girl whose boyfriend was also suspended for another incident.