Posted on 08/21/2012 7:51:43 AM PDT by servo1969
PRAGUE, Okla.– There’s a bit of diploma drama going on between a local high school and that school’s valedictorian.
David Nootbaar is furious his daughter’s school is keeping her diploma.
He said, “She has worked so hard to stay at the top of her class and this is not right.”
Kaitlin Nootbaar graduated from Prague High School, the Red Devils, in May and was named valedictorian.
When tasked with writing the graduation speech, her dad said she got her inspiration from the movie “Eclipse: The Twilight Saga.”
Nootbaar said, “Her quote was, ‘When she first started school she wanted to be a nurse, then a veterinarian and now that she was getting closer to graduation, people would ask her, what do you want to do and she said how the hell do I know? I’ve changed my mind so many times.’”
He said in the written script she gave to the school she wrote “heck,” but in the moment she said “hell” instead.
Nootbaar said the audience laughed, she finished her speech to warm applause and didn’t know there was a problem.
That was until she went to pick up the real certificate this week.
“We went to the office and asked for the diploma and the principal said, ‘Your diploma is right here but you’re not getting it. Close the door; we have a problem,’” Nootbaar said.
He said the principal told Kaitlin she would have to write an apology letter before he would release the diploma.
A move her dad believes is illegal.
“She earned that diploma. She completed all the state curriculum. In four years she has never made a B. She got straight A’s and had a 4.0 the whole way through.”
Kaitlin starts college in a few days on a full scholarship, making the administrators’ decision even more appalling to her family.
We tried to get the school’s side of the story.
Superintendent Dr. Rick Martin said in a statement, “This matter is confidential and we cannot publicly say anything about it.”
Kaitlin doesn’t plan on writing an apology letter because she doesn’t feel she did anything wrong.
Her family supports that choice.
Kaitlin sent KFOR-TV this statement Monday afternoon:
“First off, I would like to thank everyone who is backing me on this, especially my friends and family. And to those who don’t agree with me, that is fine also. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and is free to comment however they choose. It’s one of the great advantages of living in a free country. A country where we are free to speak. I would also like to note that I do not hate Prague. I have loved that town since I was a child. I don’t hate the school either, the teachers have always been great! I don’t feel that the whole town should suffer from the mistakes of few. Again, thanks:)”
Lighting a joint would be a criminal offense. Advocating repealing drug prohibition isn’t. Saying the principal was caught in a compromising position with a poodle is libel unless true. If false it is a tort and in some jurisdictions a crime since the principal is a government agent. If it is true, let her say it.
She didn’t yell fire or make any libelous/ slanderous about another person. She just used a word some find offensive. You have no more right to have what you find offensive censored by government bureaucrats than atheists, or Mohammedans, or anyone else has.
Censorship of unpopular or offensive speech is far more dangerous than the speech is. We have far too much censorship as it is. We’re on our way to being like Canada where speech that offends special groups is a criminal act. Allowing a local bureaucrat censor speech moves us further in that direction.
As I pointed out above, we already have local bureaucrats censoring speeches that mention God or Jesus. Since you refuse to answer whether or not you support that censorship I have to assume you agree with doing that too.
Weird.
This "Doctor" Dip Wad needs to be fired. He works for US!!
I’d guess the “foul-mouthed brat” is a hell of lot smarter than you.....
Guess you don't consider FReeper's "polite company".
HAHA!!
And you know this how?
Jim Thorpe was a relative of mine...
You are bitching too much.
Is that proper context?
Exactly!!..if this was MA, NY, or CT. But this is OK......
Once again the point is not what its offensive, the point is that the speech had been approved as written not as spoken. They had a "contract" that should would give the speech she promised to present,she violated that, and received a punishment.
As far as the "censorship" drum you keep beating, I do approve of some censorship. I don't want teenage children going to see x rated movies. I don't want any of my nieces or nephews reading the "Shades of gray" novels out now.
I am not offended by her use of the word "Hell" I am offended that she said she would deliver one speech and then didn't do as she had said.
Conservatives believe in the rule of law, the leftest anarchists throwing a fit at WTO meetings are more your kind of person.
The punishment is far too harsh for a slip of the tongue. I guess you never made a mistake when speaking in front of hundreds of people.
But the bigger issue is the government agency shouldn’t have censored her speech in the first place. Had there been no prior censorship by the bureaucrats there would have been no issue. The bureaucrat wouldn’t have known that she misspoke one word in her speech.
As for the government having the power to ban what your kids may and may not read, that leads to things like the Bible and Huckleberry Finn being banned from school reading lists. It’s your job to decide what they read and what they watch. It isn’t up to the government to dictate what your kids may read or watch.
I will save my breath since it is very clear that you only intent is to completely misunderstand. Good luck.
I will save my breath since it is very clear that you only intent is to completely misunderstand. Good luck.
No kidding? Jim still needs to have his Olympic medals restored to him.
My great, great, great, grandfather was Alexander Peter Nadeau..and married a Vieux. They were both Potawatomi's
Illogical. Profanity is not equivalent to indecent exposure or assault.
Absolutely, Comrade. This senior must learn to obey The State.
The State salutes you for supporting its power grab!
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