After filing a lawsuit against Edina High School, the school district, principal, and superintendent over alleged discrimination, student members of the Young Conservatives Club (YCC) recently agreed to a settlement that will result in their club being reinstated at the school. In filing the lawsuit, the YCC students “charged the school with violating students’ rights of freedom of speech and of association, equal access, and not abiding by federal laws and codes for the U.S. Flag.” But what did the school do to prompt the lawsuit in the first place?
After filing a lawsuit against Edina High School, the school district, principal, and superintendent over alleged discrimination, student members of the Young Conservatives Club (YCC) recently agreed to a settlement that will result in their club being reinstated at the school. In filing the lawsuit, the YCC students “charged the school with violating students’ rights of freedom of speech and of association, equal access, and not abiding by federal laws and codes for the U.S. Flag.” But what did the school do to prompt the lawsuit in the first place?
It all began late last year “during Edina High School’s Veterans Day assembly.” During the assembly, “several students refused to stand for the national anthem, some reportedly choosing to lay on the floor in protest…The students then remained seated for the playing of ‘Taps,'” according to the lawsuit.
Uncomfortable with the protest, a member of the YCC videotaped the protest and posted it on social media, resulting in a “social media firestorm.” The video even gained the attention of an alleged Antifa member on Youtube who called itself ‘Antifa EHS,’ who “posted a video targeting YCC members.” Antifa EHS’s video “features an anonymous individual wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, threatening members of the club for pursuing their supposed alt-right agenda.” During Veteran’s Day weekend, tensions escalated and ended with the administration dissolving the YCC.
As soon as the student club was dissolved many called the move an act of discrimination. An attorney representing the students of YCC, Erick Kaardal, called the school’s actions “a clear case of discrimination against students with conservative beliefs by a school whose policies have been documented as promoting an extreme ideological agenda.”
Fortunately for fans of free speech and the student members of the YCC, a settlement was reached between the students and defendants in the case. While celebrating the victory, the YCC issued the following press release:
“On behalf of the current and future members of the Edina High School Young Conservatives Club, student plaintiffs and parents, and families in the Edina School District, this lawsuit is now settled and we have won everything that we set out for.”
But what does the settlement mean for the YCC? Well, for starters, the student group “can now be reinstated as a school-sponsored club or a non-sponsored club, and can exercise free speech without fear of consequences or retribution.” Additionally, “U.S. flags are now required to hang in every classroom, and USA Day will be included once again in the school’s Spirit Week,” according to the settlement agreement.
Kaardal was also pleased with the settlement agreement and said it “establishes a statewide foundation for conservative student clubs who criticize school policies.” He added:
“Edina school staff disbanded the Young Conservatives Club because it ‘disrespected’ flag protesters at a November 2017 Veterans Day Event. Experienced school administrators acknowledged in response to this case that school administrators had not confronted this issue before: conservative students organizing to criticize a public school’s ideology. Is Edina Public Schools’ ideology above First Amendment criticism? Of course not…After the lawsuit was filed, the school board agreed—and admirably so. The result of the settlement for the students is First Amendment freedom—something they did not have before the settlement.”
Sources:
Victory for Conservative Students at Edina High School
Conservative Edina high school group claims victory in free speech lawsuit
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