Dad of Valedictorian Who’s Mic Was Shut Off: ‘Principal Did Threaten’ My Son
In a statement, Reimer said:
“The principal did threaten Remington through me. The school board has access to information to verify this if they desire since the principal sought legal counsel concerning the actions he wanted to take on my son to destroy his future. The principal came back to me later that day, June 7, and said that legally he could only send a personal letter to the Naval Academy and strip Remington of all honors related to character. When he gave the diploma to Remington that afternoon, he did not repeat his threat; however, he did mention that consulting with legal counsel had already cost the district $3000. Lt. Col. Davidson of the NJROTC program at Joshua was in the room on this occasion.”
Joshua High School Principal, Mick Cochran, replied to TheBlaze’s request for comment on the initial allegations with two words: “Not true.” Cochran later added, “The young man and I spoke the following day, we shook hands and moved on. The facts are being blown out of proportion. The incident is over.”
Cochran has not responded to TheBlaze’s request for comment on today’s statement from Todd Reimer, which included these observations:
“In all this, the principal’s action and reaction are what has hurt Remington’s feelings the most. As we have gone through this process, I have learned how much Remington admired the principal. I also personally like him and am grieved that this has happened.
“One of the lessons we have learned in all of this is: Well-intentioned people who don’t know policy/the Constitution can often implement rules/laws that infringe upon the rights of others. This is a microcosm of what is happening in our nation at large.”
Liberty Institute sent an
official notice letter to the superintendent and board of the Joshua Independent School District. According to the letter,
school officials broke Texas state law in two ways:
- by not distancing themselves from the content of the valedictorian’s speech;
- by not printing a disclaimer in the graduation program that should state “the content of each student speaker’s message is the private expression of the individual student and does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position or expression of the District.”
