Yup. Can't win for losing. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. My guess is the kid can find his consequences in a student handbook that he and his parents signed at the beginning of the year to prove that they understood school tardiness policies. Schools can no longer afford to be capricious about this stuff and put it all in writing someplace.
Perhaps a different outcome might have been had with a simple parent's phone call to the office. "My son will be late to first block, he's having a bad nose bleed and we'll get him their when it's over, what can he do to avoid detention?"

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You're a daisy if you do.
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