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35 Dixon Students Protest Being Denied Prom After Booze Found On Bus

DIXON (CBS13) - After months of planning their junior prom, leadership students at Dixon High School were forced to watch as others attended while they were kept outside.

On Monday, they wore their dresses and tuxes in protest.

"The only word I had for it was devastating," said one of the banned students, Yasmin Quintana.

Thirty-five leadership students were banned from the prom after a water bottle with booze was found on their party bus. Students say they never saw anyone drinking on the bus and even begged the principal to use a Breathalyzer on them.

Students say the prom contract calls for a breathalyzer test if alcohol is suspected.

"I said if the problem is we do not have a breathalyzer, I will call the cops right now and have them come here and breathalyze me," Quintana said.

One student tried to even claim the bottle as his even though he says it wasn't. "Yeah, and all (Principal John) Barsotti said over and over was 'You didn't do it, I know you didn't do it," Jake Morales said.

But no one was tested. Instead, students spent their entire prom night on the sidewalk in downtown Sacramento, hoping administrators would change their minds. They were not even allowed inside, they say, to use the bathroom for hours. Parents showed up and wondered why the kids were outside.

"Some kids were three blocks away, others were going to the bathroom at the bar, so I started gathering kids," said Richard Bedoya, whose son wasn't even one of those banned.

"My daughter was in tears, I couldn't understand her," one mother said. "I thought something horrible like an accident had occurred."

One of the banned 35 is the superintendent's son. He spoke out against the school's actions.

"Just because one person had a drink or one person brought on alcohol, I don't think it was right to punish 35 kids, especially the kids that were sober and did listen to the rules," John Nolan said.

The school board says it is investigating the incident. Students say they want an apology and to have their prom back.

The principal said in an email to CBS13 Monday night that the school is working with the students and their families to resolve the issue.

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