Katherine Lewis
A Collier County judge today upheld an injunction that will keep a 17-year-old senior at Naples High School.
Nick Sofos was suspended for 10 days and sent to the Phoenix Program, an alternative school that typically serves students with behavioral problems such as bringing weapons to school or fighting.
Sofos was punished because he dropped his pants at a Nov. 9 drama club fashion show at the school.
His parents sought an emergency court injunction last week to get Nick back in Naples High. Judge Vincent Murphy approved the injunction Dec. 1 and ordered the Collier County School District to allow Nick back into Naples High School.
Nick has been attending Naples High School this week.
The district filed a motion to dissolve the injunction this week. Judge Lawrence Martin rejected the district's motion in a court hearing today.
Attorney Bob Menzies, who is representing the Collier County School District, said Friday that the court had no legal basis or right to enter into the injunction.
Attorney Adam Steinberg of Miami, who is representing Nick, said the injunction will be in place until Nick appears before the Collier County School Board as part of an expulsion hearing.
"He does not deserve to be in the Phoenix program. The district is using scare tactics to try and keep other students from pulling pranks," he said. "He deserves to be punished, but not like this."
Nick is not facing criminal charges from the Nov. 9 incident. The Collier County Sheriff's Office investigated the incident, and found that Sofos' account that he wore thong underwear so that his backside was exposed was correct. The Sheriff's Office found there was no frontal nudity.
Still, Sofos could have been charged with disruption of a school function, a minor misdemeanor. School officials indicated they did not want to press changes, so the case was closed, sheriff's office officials told The Naples Daily News.
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