CHURUBUSCO, Ind. (Nov. 2, 2009) - Robert H. Fleming, a longtime Churubusco citizen, spoke up during the public comment portion of last night's board meeting at Smith-Green schools, stating he was upset that his tax dollars would go toward fighting an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit involving two teens who posted racy photos on an Internet social network site.
"This is not the school's position to do anything in this case," Fleming said. "And now you're wasting tax dollars to fight a lawsuit you should have never gotten involved in in the first place."back-school-hallway
Fleming said the school had other priorities, including low and failing ISTEP scores, that they should be focusing on instead of reacting to photos copied from the Web by another adult and handed over to the principal at the high school. "I would show that principal the door and tell him not to let it hit his posterior on his way out," Fleming said.
Churubusco High School principal Austin Couch sat two seats away from Fleming and did not react as Fleming talked.
Fleming was referring to a recent lawsuit filed against Smith-Green Community Schools involving two sophomore girls who were punished by the school for posting sexually suggestive photos on Facebook (not MySpace as stated in earlier news reports) this past summer.
The news broke Wednesday, Oct. 28, after a federal lawsuit had been filed by the ACLU on the girls' behalf. The lawsuit states that the girls free speech rights were violated by Churubusco High School after administrators banned the girls from sports for what the teens said "was just a joke."
The two girls, along with three other girls, were attending a sleepover during summer break and took photos of each other posing in lingerie and holding phallic-shaped suckers. The girls did not wear anything that identified them as students of Churubusco High School, and stated they had controlled the privacy settings on Facebook so that only invited friends could view the photos.
The ACLU argues that the incident had no effect on the school, since it happened during summer break. The identity of the parent(s) who downloaded and delivered the photos to Couch, who is named in the lawsuit, has not been confirmed.
The ACLU said Couch went too far after kicking the teens off of all sport teams - first for the entire school year - and later reduced to the fall semester. The girls were also required to apologize to an all-male coaches board and to undergo sexual addiction counseling, which the suit stated was "humiliating."
ACLU officials have said they are seeking to have all references to the incident expunged from school records and also seeking to prevent similar actions in the future. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling stipulates that students can be disciplined for activities that happen outside of school if the school can prove the activities were dangerous or disruptive.
Although no one on the board responded to Fleming's comments, near the conclusion of the meeting, board president Tanya Young offered handouts of a statement prepared by Steve Darnell, SGCS superintendent.
Darnell has been advised by Weber not to discuss the pending case in detail, but offered the following statement:
"The multiple pictures brought to school caused a disruption within our athletic teams at the beginning of this year's seasons. The pictures were highly inappropriate in content and did not reflect the high standards of conduct we expect in our athletes and students who participate in extra-curricular activities.
"Students who are athletes at CHS are subject to rules and expectations at a higher level than students choosing not to participate in extra-curricular activities. They represent our school and community through participation in extra-curricular events and sports in our community and other communities when traveling to away events. We expect our athletes to be held to a higher standard of behavior identified by IHSSA and our board through adopted student behavior rules and expectations. Voluntary participation on a student's part in extra-curricular events requires students to abide by the code of conduct and identify their agreement to follow these standards of behaviors.
"We stand behind the decisions made by Mr. Austin Couch, high school principal, in this case. When students choose to violate extra-curricular expectations, there are consequences. Violation of the athletic code of conduct requires removal from athletics for a year unless the violating student participates in self-help counseling and appears before the athletic board (comprised of the high school principal, athletic director and varsity coaches) to explain what was learned from the self-help sessions. When a student completes this process, the suspension is reduced to 25 percent of the season.
"As a district, we support our student behavior policies for expected behavior in and out of season. Our administration at the high school makes every effort to assure fairness exists for all of our students."
A trial date has not yet been scheduled in the U.S. District Court in Fort Wayne.
The suit has unsettled the small town of Churubusco, with people lining up on both sides of the fence. Associated Press, as well as numerous other outlets, have picked up the story and it has since appeared in various media across the nation.
Parents of the athletes involved said that this is the very reason the other parents (of the girls involved in the incident, but not in the lawsuit) chose not to get involved.
These were just young girls being silly, the parent, who asked not to be identified, said. "The other parents didn't want to be involved in this because they were worried about the backlash from the community, which - after this week - we completely understand," the parent said.
Above all, said a close friend of the families involved, "We need to remember that these are just kids and this is just high school. Let's not ruin these girls' lives over something that was supposed to be a joke, and was quickly dealt with by their parents."
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