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Title: Alpharetta High student sues Fulton Schools over prom king/queen proposal
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URL Source: http://www.ajc.com/news/north-fulto ... high-student-sues-1396148.html
Published: Mar 23, 2012
Author: D. Aileen Dodd
Post Date: 2012-03-23 17:04:05 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 1370
Comments: 1
The student, Reuben Lack,18, was student body president at Alpharetta High School until last month. He wanted the selection of prom kings and queens to be more inclusive of gay students. He was removed from his post by faculty advisers shortly after his proposal. He filed the lawsuit this week in U.S. District Court asking a judge to issue an injunction reinstating him as student body president. Lack believes he lost his leadership position because he of his stance on the prom king/queen issue. But a lawyer for the school district said his removal had nothing to do with his prom views. His proposal was tabled by his peers on the student council. “The student was essentially a poor leader,” Suzann Wilcox Jiles, attorney for the district said in a statement. “ He behaved in manner not becoming of student body president including but not limited to rescheduling meetings with little notice, directly going against the instructions of the faculty advisers.” The lawsuit was filed against the principal, the two faculty advisers, and the school district. Lack says he was told by school officials Feb. 8 that he was immediately removed from his position for “pushing personal projects” and advocating policy changes. Fulton school said the principal and teachers at Alpharetta High were very careful to take great care and be fair to all students involved when making the leadership change. “We have a great principal and staff in place and I am confident in the way that they’ve handled this situation,” said Fulton school superintendent Robert Avossa. "It is unfortunate that this matter is being tried in the court of public perception. The facts about this allegation will be revealed completely through the legal process."
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
I dunno. My gaydar isn't pinging. A Georgia-based student has filed a lawsuit against his high school, claiming he was forcibly removed from his position as Alpharetta High School's Student Council president after asking to eliminate the senior prom king and prom queen in favor of more gender-neutral titles. As the Alpharetta-Milton Patch is reporting, Reuben Lack first proposed modifying the annual prom tradition during a student council meeting on Jan. 12 in an effort to make the contest more accommodating to the school's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. After renewing the proposal at a Jan. 26 meeting, Lack says he was told Feb. 8 he was being removed as student body president because he attacked the school's principal, encouraged incoming freshmen to join the debate team he captained and other reasons, "all of which were knowingly false," according to a complaint filed by his attorney, James Radford Jr. Lack, who is described by Radford as a model student with a 3.7 GPA, told 11 Alive News the issue was never debated during any of the student council meetings because the faculty advisors intervened. "The teacher moderators were visibly agitated," he said. "They were very, very uncomfortable about it. To the point where they were almost angry." The Courthouse News Service reports that the lawsuit names the Fulton County School System, Alpharetta High principal Shannon Kersey, and faculty advisors Emily Reiser and Michelle Werre, and demands Lack's reinstatement in addition to damages.
He's a liberal and a student government geek but seems normal enough otherwise.
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