Laredo schools not too peachy about gifts - except for principals

On the agenda at the upcoming UISD board meeting is the issue of grievance filed by one of their busdrivers. Reportely, Ms. Maria de los Angeles Cazares was suspended for two days in August and has since filed a grievance. Her grievance is to be heard in closed session at today's meeting. The reason she was suspended: she accepted some peach tree seedlings as a gift from a parent during her bus route. I can't help but wonder if it was the value of the seedlings that made it wrong for her to accept them? What if a parent had offered (and she had accepted) a piece of chewing gum or a mint? Would that have been sufficient for her to be suspended as well?

The fact that the board will discuss this issue in closed session will probably keep the public from finding out the petty reasons for this type of behavior on the part of whoever decided to suspend her. What about the countless principals that get gifts worth $100 or more from groups of teachers. It is not uncommon for teachers to pool their money together to get their boss some pretty good gifts. Are these principals suspended?  Is there something that excludes those in higher-paid positions from being punishment for also receiving gifts?   Next time you see a school principal, just look at how many rings and bracelets she's wearing. How many of them are gifts?