Student forced to leave school grounds over sign

Patrick Fisher
The New Prague Times
A student holding a sign reading “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. We all mourn together.” was escorted off school property by New Prague High School Principal Lonnie Seifert during the student-led observance of National School Walkout day on Wednesday, March 14.
Students exited the high school peacefully at 10 a.m. A few carried signs. One read “Let’s save lives arm our staff.” Another read “Unapologetically pro 2-A,” a reference to the Second Amendment.
During the walkout, Siefert walked up to the student holding the “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. We all mourn together.” sign, which was larger than the others, and asked him to put away the sign.
The student replied he was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech as established by the U.S. Constitution.
Seifert then instructed the student if he didn’t put away the sign he would be escorted off the school grounds by a police officer. Seifert escorted the student off the grounds. While leaving the property, the students was seen walking backwards, continuing to hold up the sign.
At the end of the observance, students returned to school, including the one with the sign. He walked back to the school still holding up the sign. He then told Seifert he was putting the sign in his car. 
Seifert asked if the sign would be visible from a window and the student replied it would not.
When asked why the sign couldn’t be displayed Seifert said the sign violated school policy of the distribution of non-educational material.
In a press release about the incident the New Prague Area School District said, “The District has a policy that such items must be submitted to and reviewed by school administration at least 24-hours in advance. In compliance with the District’s policy ‘... to protect the exercise of students' and employees' free speech rights, [while] taking into consideration the educational objectives and responsibilities of the School District,’ the sign was moved to non-school grounds. The District has an obligation to enforce this policy without regard to political viewpoint.
“No student was disciplined and law enforcement was not involved with any of the students present during the walkout.
“New Prague Area Schools fully respects and recognizes that students have free speech rights. Those rights, however, are to be balanced against the District’s responsibility to maintain a school environment focused on education. The District’s administration has an obligation to enforce the policy, which is known as a ‘time, place, and manner restriction.’”
When asked why only one of the three students was singled out Superintendent Tim Dittberner responded, “At this time, the only comment we have is stated in our response that was sent out earlier.” Also at this time, the school district was not releasing the name of the student who was forced to leave the school grounds due to data privacy rules.
Another student captured the beginning of the confrontation on a video clip and it has been shared on the website thedailywire.com. To date, it has been viewed more than 2 million times and shared 101,000 times. On The New Prague Times’ Facebook page, a brief story and photo about the walkout had been viewed by more than 4,000 people. On several websites, there have been more than 28,000 comments about the incident.
For more see an upcoming print edition of The New Prague Times.

Suel Printing Company

Copyright © Suel Printing Company
All Rights Reserved
200 Main St E
New Prague, MN 56071

Phone: 952-758-4435
Fax: 952-758-4135

Latest articles

Thu, 03/28/2024 - 11:40am
Thu, 03/28/2024 - 11:33am
Thu, 03/28/2024 - 10:00am
Tue, 03/26/2024 - 4:12pm

If you would like to receive a FREE digital edition with a paid print subscription please call 952-758-4435.