At first, second, and third read of your original post, I agreed that you handled this in the best way -- you are your DS's advocate and you knew he deserved to have his work put forward. Especially since your DS was not a student at the school, I think contacting the proper people for the county contest was appropriate. However, after reading some of the comments, I would caution you to avoid saying that certain projects only went forward because of who there parents are. My DD has been on the receiving end of middle school bullying with comments like these. After winning a school speech contest which sent her on to the district, she intercepted a note between two of her classmates saying "________ only won because they didn't want to have to listen to her Mom." My DD was the clear winner as selected by more than a majority vote of all of her classmates and by disinterested adults selected by her GT teacher. This was very hurtful to a child who put her best effort forward, did wonderful work, and ended up placing 2nd in the district on the same speech.
