Happy Ending
Following an executive session, the school board ordered the 
principal to terminate the suspension and send the boys back
to class forthwith. Unless it could be shown that their presence
disrupted the learning process, there was no reason to bar the
boys. It was a bitter pill for the 
principal whose irritation was exacerbated by the ruling. But some of 
the sting was taken out of the victory when the boys appeared at school 
next day with their hairs clipped to respectable length.
Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. Just as the things were about to
revert to normalcy, the same French teacher then demanded that a girl
be ousted from school for wearing a mini skirt.

An ax to grind--I am always dubious about the motives of a man 
who tells me that he has no ax to grind.
(having a selfish motive in the background)