This Washington
Edmonds High School Sophomore Suspended for Fiery Speech
Pascal Cloutier, a sophomore at Edmonds-Woodway High School, has been suspended after delivering a rousing—though unapproved—speech that railed against the school's Associated Student Body system. MyEdmondsNews.com originally reported on Cloutier's speech, which was televised on the school's internal TV network to students during candidate elections on Monday.
Cloutier's original campaign speech was approved by administrators, but he opted to throw that out in favor of a substitute that was sharply critical of the school's teachers and ASB:
He also called the ASB "puppets of the teachers" who were there only to help form a school that was good for teachers rather than for the students. Cloutier was the ASB freshman class president last year.
During the speech, teachers were reportedly calling the front office ordering Cloutier's speech to be cut short and students were raising their hands and cheering in classrooms schoolwide. Asked if Pascal was usually rebellious, his mom, Priya Sinha told PubliCola it was Pascal's "first act of civil disobedience." Pascal said he just wanted to let other students know that the "ASB was not a legislative body or a representative body in any form."
Cloutier's mother explains that the family expected (and accept) that Pascal's speech would disqualify him from the ASB election (it didn't square well with the school's constitution). They were however, "dumbfounded" by the delivery of a two-day suspension. In justifying the suspension, his mom says the school was "quoting the fact that [Pascal] disrupted the educational process."
This is a direct reference to a legal standard, the U.S. Supreme Court's Hazelwood standard, which allows administrators to censor simply for "pedagogical goals." In other words, the school administration can censor for subjective reasons.
A stricter standard for censors to meet is the earlier Tinker standard, which Hazelwood overturned. Luckily, states are allowed to be more liberal than the feds when protecting speech rights. Under the Tinker standard, administrators have to show that the speech in question actually disrupts the school day. The state legislature has tried, but failed , to mandate the Tinker standard in Washington State.
Reached on his cell phone at school today, Cloutier told PubliCola that originally he was suspended for "changing up his speeches." Only when the administration couldn't find anything in the school's code to suspend him on those grounds, he says, did they come back with an additional day of suspension for disrupting the educational process.
Since he has returned to school, he said teachers told him his speech was "terrible" and had heard from other students that teachers had called it "shit" in front of other students. Cloutier even claimed that the vice principal told him that had he said something more favorable to teachers, he would have cheered as well. The teachers didn't approve of his speech, he claimed, and so he was suspended.
Meanwhile, though Cloutier has returned to school, his supporters are congregating at a "Free Pascal" Facebook page.
Pascal's mother, said that she and Cloutier are appealing the suspension to remove the violation from his permanent record. It was clear the "district didn't follow policy," she said, adding that as a local attorney she had defended students in these types of violations for fourteen years.
The Edmonds-Woodway High School has not immediately returned a call for comment.
Cloutier's original campaign speech was approved by administrators, but he opted to throw that out in favor of a substitute that was sharply critical of the school's teachers and ASB:
They do nothing to help us, they do not stand up for the student body: instead, they do everything in their power to divide and destroy us. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I think it is time that we, the students, stood up for ourselves! It is time for us to cast off the shackles of lies and oppression! Comrades, it is time for us to get rid of ASB!
He also called the ASB "puppets of the teachers" who were there only to help form a school that was good for teachers rather than for the students. Cloutier was the ASB freshman class president last year.
During the speech, teachers were reportedly calling the front office ordering Cloutier's speech to be cut short and students were raising their hands and cheering in classrooms schoolwide. Asked if Pascal was usually rebellious, his mom, Priya Sinha told PubliCola it was Pascal's "first act of civil disobedience." Pascal said he just wanted to let other students know that the "ASB was not a legislative body or a representative body in any form."
Cloutier's mother explains that the family expected (and accept) that Pascal's speech would disqualify him from the ASB election (it didn't square well with the school's constitution). They were however, "dumbfounded" by the delivery of a two-day suspension. In justifying the suspension, his mom says the school was "quoting the fact that [Pascal] disrupted the educational process."
This is a direct reference to a legal standard, the U.S. Supreme Court's Hazelwood standard, which allows administrators to censor simply for "pedagogical goals." In other words, the school administration can censor for subjective reasons.
A stricter standard for censors to meet is the earlier Tinker standard, which Hazelwood overturned. Luckily, states are allowed to be more liberal than the feds when protecting speech rights. Under the Tinker standard, administrators have to show that the speech in question actually disrupts the school day. The state legislature has tried, but failed , to mandate the Tinker standard in Washington State.
Reached on his cell phone at school today, Cloutier told PubliCola that originally he was suspended for "changing up his speeches." Only when the administration couldn't find anything in the school's code to suspend him on those grounds, he says, did they come back with an additional day of suspension for disrupting the educational process.
Since he has returned to school, he said teachers told him his speech was "terrible" and had heard from other students that teachers had called it "shit" in front of other students. Cloutier even claimed that the vice principal told him that had he said something more favorable to teachers, he would have cheered as well. The teachers didn't approve of his speech, he claimed, and so he was suspended.
Meanwhile, though Cloutier has returned to school, his supporters are congregating at a "Free Pascal" Facebook page.
Pascal's mother, said that she and Cloutier are appealing the suspension to remove the violation from his permanent record. It was clear the "district didn't follow policy," she said, adding that as a local attorney she had defended students in these types of violations for fourteen years.
The Edmonds-Woodway High School has not immediately returned a call for comment.
