Originally Posted by
mikeef
Truthfully, I think the GA was stuck between a rock and a hard spot. I don't know how hard they tried to solicit volunteers, but I hope they tried like h*ll, because this was a tough situation to be in. For some reason, six students were picked to be IBD'ed. I wouldn't want to be one of them, but I also wouldn't want to be the one IBD'ed if the GA said, "Well, we picked you because we wanted to keep the group together." Actually, I'd love it, since the comp would be great, but there might actually be people who needed to be somewhere on-time. Bottom line: Glad I wasn't the GA.
To me this is simple. You have a principal whose job is to supervise a group of minors. Based on whatever "legal" requirements of him, he had to refuse to board. So you try to split 6 kids away, or if you don't succeed, you end up with 21 empty seats on a busy day. At this point, all IDB/VDB priorities are thrown out of consideration. As long as the plane's door remains open, you choose 6 people and throw THEM off the plane--onto a later flight or two or three or six. You can send 6 people to as many flights needed, but you can't send 27 to any one flight with such short notice. Anything short of "my mother is dying in Lubbock" is not legitimate protection from being ordered off your seat and the flight.