While there can be debate concerning why school officials cancelled the play, there should be no debate whether any individual family can request not to participate for their own reasons.
My understanding from the articles was that Janice Black simply asked that her family not participate. It was the administration who took it to the next level.
Were school officials reacting to their own zero tolerance policy against "weapons", be they simulated, or real (clubs are considered part of the administration's zero tolerance weapons policy). We don't know.
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