In Katy, zero tolerance for expressions of teen love

So there's a lot for school officials to worry about these days: drugs, gangs, arson, sexual assault — and writing stupid graffiti on gym walls. Don't believe those are all in the same category? Just ask Shelby Sendelbach, the 12-year-old Mayde Creek Junior High student who was sent to an alternative campus through Dec. 31 for writing "I love Alex" in blue marker on a gymnasium wall. You hear that, Alex? She's willing to go to stir for you, man. That's real.

Sendelbach's parents, Lisa and Stu, said they don't think the graffiti warranted sending their daughter to the alternative campus: "We are shocked that the school district rules as they are written make no distinction between what Shelby is accused of and what a gang member does with a can of black spray paint," Stu Sendelbach told the AP. According to Katy district policy, graffiti is a Level 4 infraction — the same level as drug possession, assault and making a terroristic threat. Only murder, gun possession, sexual assault and arson are considered more severe.

The Sendelbachs have appealed the district's decision, but it's not clear whether the district will change its mind — Mayde Creek principal Rick Hull declined to comment, and Katy ISD spokesman Steve Stanford said the district followed state law in its response.