I think boneheaded PC decisions like this SHOULD result in the harshest possible consequences. It will, finally, force teachers and administrators to actually, well, think about what they are about to do rather than making silly, stupid, counter-productive rulings.
The guy did, after all, make a decision that could have easily affected the remainder of the kid's life via a change in his educational status. And he did it for no other reason than a PC-based "zero tolerance" general attitude that has become all too pervasive in academia. It's become a crutch for schools and school administrators. They should be held to higher standard, including harsher punishments for bad or patently stupid judgement calls than can, and sometime do, affect the child's future ability to secure a quality higher education.
I think the school board did the right thing. I wish every school board would do the same thing in a circumstance like this. That would put a quick, sudden, and definitive end to the pc-based punishment lunacy that seems to have pervaded our schools.
Brad