GLENDALE, Ohio – An Ohio private school student was suspended for a day over a staring contest with a female student who later reported she “felt fearful” by the encounter.

Last September, two 12–year-old boys were suspended from Saint Gabriel Consolidated School in Glendale for one day after a female student’s parents complained to school officials.

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“He came home that day and said, I got suspended for staring. I mean, he was in a daze,” one of the boy’s parents, Candice Tolbert, told WLWT.

“He was playing a game with her. He said she was laughing. They were engaged. When she finally giggled and said stop, he stopped,” Tolbert said.

The students’ teacher also described the incident in court papers.

“She said that during snack time, she was approached by (the student). He walked up to her, said nothing, just stared at her,” the teacher said. Court records claim the girl said she also stared at the boys.

Fox 19 reports the incident occurred on a Monday, and school officials were contacted by the girl’s family the next day. The school spoke with Tolbert’s son the same day, a Tuesday, but didn’t inform his parents of the situation until Wednesday. By then, the boy had already penned an apology letter to his classmate.

“I never know she was scared because she was laughing,” the boy wrote, according to court records. “I understand I done the wrong thing that will never happen again. I will start to think before I do so I am not in this situation.”

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“I don’t want to be suspended anymore,” the note continued. “This will be my last time intimidating someone.”

Despite the apology, school officials suspended both boys for a full day.

The Tolberts thought their son’s punishment was excessive, and attempted to discuss the situation with school officials, but didn’t get very far.

“The Archdiocese would not sit down with us,” Tolbert said. “At that point, we are concerned about our son’s record. To have this mislabel of bullying and intimidation behavior on his record does not represent who he is.”

So the couple took St. Gabriel Consolidated School to court in an attempt to expunge their son’s record, claiming school officials did not provide him with due process. But the private school cited a policy that states “the principal is the final recourse in all disciplinary matters and may waive any and all rules at his/her discretion for just cause.”

Judge Patrick Dinkelacker sided with school officials Tuesday and upheld the suspension.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati would not discuss the case on camera with Fox 19, and instead issued a brief statement.

“Judge Patrick Dinkelacker listened to the plaintiff’s arguments yesterday, rejected them, and dismissed the complaint against the school,” the statement read. “We aren’t going to comment any further on particular issues concerning our students.”

Fox 19 pointed out that the Tolberts’ son is black and the female student was white, though the family is not claiming racial discrimination. The Tolberts did, however, claim the school has treated their son differently than the alleged victim, who has also misbehaved in the past.

“The same girl that accused my son of this act of perception of intimidation, aggressively poured milk on someone else’s lunch,” Candice Tolbert told the news site. “When she did that there was no penalties for that. She received nothing for that.”

The family told the media they’re considering an appeal of Dinkelacker’s decision.