FAIRFAX, Va. (WUSA) -- "I can't say he was treated like a criminal. Because in our judicial system, criminals are treated better," says Steve Stuban. His son, Nick, committed suicide January 20, 2011.
Steve and his wife Sandy, who has Lou Gehrig's disease and speaks with a voice synthesizer, want to make clear Nick did nothing illegal. The 15-year-old Woodson High School football player admitted to buying one capsule of a substance called JWH-018, after he had learned it was a legal substance.
"He said it was the dumbest decision he ever made. It was a mistake," Steve Stuban says.
The Stubans say at Nick's hearing, administrators didn't even consider their only child's situation at home...or other factors.
"It was degrading, demeaning, questioning. Not trusting him, stating that they weren't certain that they could trust any of his testimony. And we thought we were dealing with the facts as presented," says Steve Stuban.
Stuban says the hearing officers told him because he couldn't remember the exact price he paid for the capsule, that they thought he was lying.
When they left the hearing in tears, Steve says as Nick pushed his mother's wheelchair out, he asked, "Dad, should I have lied?"
Sandy Stuban says, "I wondered why no importance was placed on his teachers' or coaches' comments. His grades. His first infraction. His willingness to learn from his mistake. His involvement with Boy Scouts. His work with Habitat for Humanity, and his home responsibilities with me."
The Stubans have been offended by Fairfax County Superintendent Dr. Jack Dale's statements that they don't have a zero tolerance policy.
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"Zero tolerance means giving punishment without considering the whole person. That's exactly what Nick was subject to," says Sandy Stuban.
After a suspension which dragged on two months, Nick was transferred to Fairfax High School. But he could not take being pulled away from all his friends and being banned from all Woodson property.
"I saw Nick's spirit becoming more and more depressed," says Steve Stuban.
His parents tried to help, and now regret they didn't do more. He took his own life on January 20th. They blame the school system for contributing to his death.
"They should tape their proceedings or get transcripts for their proceedings. It was outrageous what my wife, my son and I endured in that hearing," Steve Stuban says.
The Stubans say they will fight for changes in Fairfax County discipline procedures as long as it takes. They say they decided to speak publicly because of all the other families who've contacted them about similar harsh treatment in Fairfax County schools.
Written by Peggy Fox
9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com