Student who was arrested will be allowed to graduate

June 4, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

A Choffin Career and Technical School student who was arrested last week after he threw a tantrum because he thought a suspension would keep him from participating in graduation will be allowed to graduate.

Yvonne Mathis, a spokeswoman for the city school district, said Thursday that Deaunt’e Blackmon-Tensley, 19, will be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies Friday at Stambaugh Auditorium and walk across the stage and receive his diploma.

Mathis said Blackmon-Tensley was told he was being suspended Friday because of a senior prank involving a water balloon, and thought he would miss graduation because he would receive a five-day suspension, which would include the day of graduation, thus making him ineligible.

However, the suspension is only three days and would be before graduation, which means he will be allowed to graduate, Mathis said.

Mathis did not have all the details of the prank. School officials did talk to Blackmon-Tensley’s mother, Mathis said.

Joe Meranto, director of Choffin Career and Technical Center, said the student was among a group participating in a senior prank, throwing water balloons inside the school. The school’s assistant principal told the students to report to in-school suspension, and they complied except for Blackmon-Tensley.

For some reason, Meranto said, he thought he would not be able to participate in the graduation because of the suspension and that is when he got upset.

The matter didn’t even go through the steps that lead to suspension because when the student threw the tantrum, police became involved. Once that happens, it’s a police matter, Meranto said.

Blackmon-Tensley appeared Monday in municipal court before Judge Elizabeth Kobly on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and criminal damaging in the tirade that took place in a common area of Choffin about 1:45 p.m. Friday.

Police reports said a Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office deputy and a city police officer working school security responded because Blackmon-Tensley was throwing tables and chairs and loudly swearing. He still refused to calm down and was taken to the ground, where he kept swinging his arms so he could not be cuffed before he finally was placed in handcuffs.

Reports said there were several tables and chairs strewn throughout the common area, and one of the tables was broken. Blackmon-Tensley told the officer and deputy that he acted out because “he was advised he was being suspended for an earlier incident and would not be able to walk across the stage for graduation,” reports said.

Blackmon-Tensley also told Judge Kobly the reason he acted out was that he would not be able to graduate. He pleaded no contest to the charges and was found guilty. He has never been arrested before, he said in court Monday.

Blackmon-Tensley was sentenced to time served in the Mahoning County jail, where he spent the weekend after his arrest, 80 hours community service, one year of probation and fines, which he can pay off through additional community service. He also was ordered to pay restitution for the table he broke.

Vindicator reporter Denise Dick contributed to this story.