Student alleges school punished her after teacher threatened to sue
January 29, 2004
MISSISSIPPI -- A high school student says school administrators
punished her because she wrote in her off-campus weblog that a teacher was
"perverted."St. Martin High School junior Addi Battista said this week
that she served three days of in-school isolation this month after
administrators at the public school in Ocean Springs discovered her off-campus
weblog, an online journal. In the weblog, Battista vented about the
teacher's mispronunciation of her last name, mocked his clothing and rejoiced
that she would no longer be in his class. The entry in question was written and
published online before the winter break.The school administration
learned about the weblog when another student printed the entry at school and
brought it to the administration's attention before the winter break, said
Nathan Potts, a St. Martin High School senior and friend of
Battista.After school administrators confronted her about the weblog,
Battista removed the entry. "It was not fair," Battista said. "I didn't
mean for [the teacher] to see [the weblog]. I kept apologizing. I even took it
off. I thought it was the end of it."After the winter break,
administrators suspended Battista for "making defamatory remarks" about the
teacher. They also suspended the student who reported the weblog for two days
and barred him from using the school's computers, Potts said. Assistant
Principal Dina Holland said school policy permits the school to punish students
when they bring something on campus that causes a problem. Battista
blamed the suspension on the teacher, who she said threatened legal action if
the school did not discipline her. "Holland said she was scared for me
because [the teacher] was going to take me to court, so they sent me to
three-day ISI," Battista said. "It's really dumb. I found out they [couldn't
legally suspend me]. I was so mad."Potts said he did not understand why
Battista had to apologize for her off-campus activities."I don't think
she should have had to apologize for anything other than having an opinion that
was too harsh for him," Potts said. "I don't see why she shouldn't be able to
say she's glad to be getting out of his class because he's perverted in her own
time in her own live journal on her own computer." School officials said
they did nothing wrong. "We don't discipline students for nothing," said
Loretta Goff, assistant superintendent for St. Martin Attendance Center.
"Anytime a student is disciplined, it is because their actions have been a
breech of school policy. It would have nothing to do with their First Amendment
rights or any constitutional freedoms." Before her suspension, Battista
and her parents considered taking legal action against the school, but after the
suspension, they decided it was too late to do anything. Battista has
since made her weblog private and will transfer to another public school
for her senior year. The offended teacher said he did not want to
comment on the situation.
© 2004 Student Press Law Center
 |
< Return to Previous Page