You can't have it both ways.
Decades of hamstringing the school system in handling troublesome students have led to what happened to that little girl.
The school faculty was afraid to do anything for fear of being sued. They took the only course open. It may be silly to call the cops (and they were cops
St. Petersburg police to be exact), but it was the only recourse they had after the mother failed to show up. They were trying to cover their asses and it appears it didn't do any good as the mother is already talking about pressing charges.
It was handled the best it possibly could have been handled. And that's what makes it reprehensible. That the police being called to talk down and ultimately hand cuff a little girl because the school was too afraid and the mother unwilling to assume responsibility for this kid and discipline her for her actions.
In this case, every one is a loser, this girl's mother especially. She should hang her head in shame.
/waits patiently for the big public outcry about this followed by media blitz of "it could happen to your child" "news" stories.