FARMINGTON, Mo. – An all-state athlete was not allowed to participate in a regional competition this weekend after she brought her pet goat to school on Friday.
The goat is a Nigerian dwarf named Rachel.
“Rachel is more of a pet than a goat,” said a family friend. “She comes into the house all the time and wears a diaper when she’s inside. She has a harness and leash. She’s not the typical outside goat.”
A family friend said Farmington High School senior Jade Roth, who set a record high jump of 5 feet, 2 inches at a track meet, brought the goat before school. It was the senior’s last day for the year. Administrators told Roth to take the goat home and return to school.
“When they came back to the school, they came to the office and were told they were being suspended for the day,” said the family friend. “That being Jade’s last day of high school meant she was ineligible to compete in any extracurricular activities during the weekend, which unfortunately was the district track competition.”
Superintendent of Farmington R-7 School District Matt Ruble responded via email that the district does not comment regarding individual student discipline issues.
Roth, who had been an all-state athlete the last two years, was not able to make it her third and final year in high school as a Farmington Black Knight.
She has a scholarship to play volleyball at a nearby university, where she can visit her goat, Rachel.
