Member of The 35 Suing Dixon High Principal, School District

The next chapter of Promgate is being written in a Solano County courtroom.

On May 31, Dixon High School parent Melody Williams and her daughter, Miranda, filed a lawsuit against Dixon Unified School District and Dixon High School Principal John Barsotti seeking damages they say were brought on by Promgate.

Melody and Miranda Williams are suing the school district and Barsotti for $7,500 for costs associated with the prom as well as emotional distress brought on by Promgate according to a story published in the Vacaville Reporter.

On April 28, 35 students from the school's Junior Class leadership, including Miranda Williams, were denied entry into the school's prom held at Elks Tower in Sacramento. The students were denied entry into the prom when a bottle of vitamin water containing a small amount of alcohol was found on the bus the students chartered.

The students say that the school violated the dance contract, which called for the Dixon High to breathalyze the students and notify their parents if they are suspected of consuming alcohol at the dance. Neither of the two items in the dance contract happened and students were left to stand outside of the prom, many say without supervision, for several hours while their peers danced the night away.

Principal John Barsotti apologized to the students during a special meeting at Dixon High School.

At that meeting, Barsotti stated: "I am very sorry for how I handled the situation, having students be upset. I wish I could have done things better. That was my fault. There's no question, I was reponsible."

Interim Superintendent Brian Dolan, who's son was also a part of The 35 and was denied entrance into the prom, said he did not fully scrutinize the dance contract when he received the call on the evening of the prom informing him of the bottle of alcohol.

Dolan, Barsotti and the District formed a Promgate commitee in an attempt to revise the dance contract and find a way for the events of April 28 to never happen again. At a recent school board meeting, Dolan told the school board that the committee had met, but none of the students were present, only two of their parents had participated.

Board president Irina Okhremtchouk directed staff to continue meeting and reach out to The 35 and ask them to be part of the committee.

According to the Vacaville Reporter Melody and Miranda Williams are seeking $617.64 for prom expenses along with $6,882.23 in punitive damages.

The civil trial is scheduled for July 2, at 1 p.m., Small Claims Court, Room 303 at the Fairfield Hall of Justice.

Now we put the question to the readers of Dixon Patch. Did the school and the district do enough to compensate the students who were denied entry into the prom?

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