Female student, 16, knocks out principal with punches to her head; student's mother threatened principal the previous night, police say



A 16-year-old female student knocked out her principal with punches to her head after dismissal at a Boston school Wednesday afternoon — and a police report said the student's mother threatened the 61-year-old principal the previous night.

What are the details?

Police said an officer assigned to a safety post outside the Upper Campus of the Dr. William W. Henderson K-12 Inclusion School was alerted around 2:30 p.m. to a "very violent attack" under way inside the school, WCVB-TV reported.

The officer found Principal Patricia Lampron unconscious on the ground with staff members attending to her, the station said, adding in its video report that witnesses told police Lampron was unconscious for four minutes. Sources told WBZ-TV that Lampron is 61 years old.

Witnesses told police the student told Lampron and a staff member to stop following her, after which the student threw closed-fist punches at Lampron's head while grabbing her hair, WCVB said, adding that the student also attacked the staff member.

Two school safety officers were holding the student by the time a Boston police officer arrived inside the school, the station said.

What happened to the principal?

Lampron suffered a concussion and possible rib fracture as well as swelling to her face and the back of her head, WCVB said, citing a police report. Her injuries are serious but not considered life-threatening, police added to the station.

The principal was taken to an area hospital, WCVB reported, citing Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius, who added that the district is in contact with Lampron's family and said many students, staff, parents, and caregivers witnessed the assault.

Police said the unnamed staff member the student also attacked suffered injuries but is expected to be OK, the station said.

What happened to the student?

Boston police said the student faces one count of assault and battery on a victim over the age of 60, one count of assault causing serious bodily injury, and two counts of assault and battery on a public employee, WCVB said.

WCVB reported later that the student was released into her mother's custody. The station noted that the student will be arraigned Thursday in Dorchester Juvenile Court.

In addition, WCVB said a police report indicated the student's mother threatened the principal the night before the incident.

Anything else?

"This incident is disturbing and completely unacceptable," Cassellius said in a message sent to students' families, the station said. "We want to be clear: Violence of any kind is not tolerated and will not be tolerated in the Boston Public Schools."

Thursday classes are canceled for students at the Henderson Upper Campus, the superintendent added her message, WCVB noted, adding that the Lower Campus is open for classes Thursday.

Cassellius also said members of the BPS Safety and Crisis teams, as well as other support personnel, will be available for students and staff as long as needed when students return Friday to the Upper Campus, the station said.

The Dr. William W. Henderson K-12 Inclusion School serves children from diverse ethnic, linguistic, and ability backgrounds, WCVB reported, adding that students who have disabilities learn in general education classrooms with their non-disabled peers.

Student in Massachusetts assaults principal, knocks her unconscious, police sayyoutu.be

Male HS student crowned homecoming queen as crowd erupts in wild cheers: 'It was literally like a dream'



Zachary Willmore was crowned this year's homecoming queen at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri — the first male to win the title at the school, KOMU-TV reported.

What are the details?

"It was literally like a dream," Wilmore — a senior and varsity cheerleader — told the station. "It was just really special to me."

Willmore told KOMU he posted an Instagram poll asking his followers if he should be king or queen: "They thought queen could look prettier on the sash. So I chose queen."

Here's a clip showing the moment Willmore — decked out in a sparkling gold dress — got the news:

@zachwillmore

Reply to @poopacus thank you guys so much for all the support I’ve received I can’t explain how happy I am tonight💕 #fyp #queen #homecoming #gay #viral #lgbt

Moments later he celebrated his win with what appear to be supportive competitors for the queen crown.

"We look gorgeous," Willmore said in the video selfie. "Have a wonderful day, cuties."

@zachwillmore

Found my date #fyp #gay #homecoming

He told KOMU that fellow students didn't make things difficult for him, noting that his win "showed that people actually did care about me. It was the final stepping stone for me to be like, 'People like me.' I feel happy."

A giant TikTok following

While Willmore made some headlines for his homecoming queen win, the station noted that he's also a big-time TikTok user with over a million followers. KOMU said Willmore has posted videos of outfits he's worn at school that have led to dress code violations.

@zachwillmore

Credit to @QuannaQuan #fyp #viral #gay #highschool

"Teachers were allowed to make the call of what was appropriate," Willmore told the station. "Many times I did feel like they could target students, and I did feel targeted in some scenarios."

He added to KOMU that some hate followed after his homecoming queen victory: "After I won, my TikTok account was reported and banned for a couple days."

But Willmore got a lot of love as well, noting a moment when he saw his grandparents among the homecoming game attendees.

"My grandparents were there that day, and I hadn't really formally come out to them. I was really nervous about that," Willmore recalled to the station. "I saw them in the crowd, and they were crying which made me really happy when they called my name. It made the win a lot sweeter."

HS students gave lap dances to staff — including principal — for school's 'Man Pageant.' Now an investigation is underway.



Students dressed in very little clothing gave lap dances to staff members — including the principal — at a Kentucky public high school while girls dressed as Hooters waitresses during homecoming week activities Tuesday, the Courier-Journal reported.

The paper added that an investigation is underway to figure out what went down as part of Hazard High School's "Man Pageant" and "Costume Day," the paper said, citing the school's Facebook page.

Um. Exactly what is going on here, y’all? C’mon Hazard. Get it together. 🤦🏼‍♀️ https://t.co/GZQCdYnpbF

— “That” Nema (@nema) 1635298441.0

Hazard is about two hours southeast of Lexington.

More from the Courier-Journal:

Photos that were subsequently taken down from the athletics department's Facebook page showed students in underclothing giving lap dances to faculty and staff, including Hazard High School Principal Donald "Happy" Mobelini, who is also mayor of the Perry County city.

Other photos on the athletics page that also were later taken down showed female students dressed up in "Hooters" outfits and students and staff appearing to paddle one another.

Mobelini, the principal and mayor, did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.

What did the superintendent and Kentucky Department of Education have to say?

Sondra Combs, superintendent of Hazard Independent Schools, told the paper that "the incident is being investigated, and once the investigation is complete, appropriate action will be taken."

Kentucky Department of Education spokeswoman Toni Konz Tatman added to the Courier Journal that the agency is "aware of what took place in Hazard Independent Schools" and has "been in contact with the superintendent, who has informed us that the incident is under investigation."

Konz Tatman also said in an email to the paper that "Kentucky law provides that school district superintendents are required to report instances of educator misconduct to the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB).Therefore, if the investigation finds a certified educator likely violated the Kentucky Educator Code of Ethics, the superintendent is required to report this to the EPSB for potential action."

Anything else?

The Courier Journal called attention to a Reddit thread about the Hazard High School incident titled "This is the mayor of my town being grinded on by a high school student dressed as a woman." As of Wednesday afternoon, it has 475 comments and 7,600 upvotes.

Aster Sizemore, a Hazard school board member, told the paper he was at the high school Tuesday but not at the events in question.

"Normally, the principal, Happy Mobelini, is pretty dad-gum strict, so that surprises me, unless someone pulled something out of a hat," Sizemore added to the Courier Journal. "A kid comes to school with a short dress, you know, he makes them go home and change."

More from the paper:

Mobelini was previously the subject of an investigation in 2008, when photos posted to Facebook showed him driving while his daughter and four of her teenage friends drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes in the vehicle.

The students and Mobelini all told district officials the principal did not know the girls had alcohol and were drinking, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported at the time.

The principal also came under scrutiny earlier in 2008, according to the Herald-Leader, when police charged 12 underage students with alcohol intoxication after they were found drinking on the Hazard High School football field.

Mobelini reportedly was with the students about 30 minutes before Hazard police arrived at the football field and found hard liquor and beer, but he said the students had not been drinking when he was still there.

According to the Herald-Leader, no charges were filed against him at the time.

Teacher allegedly tells Muslim student 'we don't negotiate with terrorists' after student asks to finish assignment at home. Teacher gets suspended.



Mohammed Zubi — a senior at Ridgefield Memorial High School in northern New Jersey — asked a teacher in his math class what seemed like a simple question last week.

But the teacher's alleged answer cut to the 17-year-old's core.

What happened?

WABC-TV said Zubi simply asked his teacher if he could finish an assignment at home.

"He responded saying, 'We don't negotiate with terrorists,' so I look around in shock, there's people laughing, and there's other people in shock, and I turn around and ask my friend, 'Did he really just say that?' and she said yes," Zubi recalled to WABC.

Image source: WABC-TV video screenshot

Senior Vuk Tomasese seemed to confirm Zubi's account to the station: "The teacher got close to him and said 'we don't negotiate with terrorists,' knowing that Mohammed is Arabic and Muslim."

Another senior, Nichoalas Velez, told WABC the students in the class mostly were in shock.

CNN noted that the instructor in question is an assistant teacher, adding that a few minutes later he approached Zubi, patted him on the back, and said he didn't mean it like that.

"In my head I'm just like, 'What other way could he have meant that?'" Zubi told the cable network.

What did the school district have to say?

Ridgefield Public Schools issued the following statement on its website:

The Ridgefield School District has absolutely no tolerance for any sort of discrimination against any student or staff member. The District strives to create an inclusive environment where students' and staff members' race, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation are embraced. While the District cannot legally comment on personnel or student matters, the public should be aware that the District immediately suspended the staff member while it is conducting a full investigation. Additionally, the District has notified law enforcement for its assistance. The District fully intends to pursue any and all legal remedies against the staff member as any discriminatory conduct has absolutely no place in our District.

Ridgefield Police Chief Thomas Gallagher told CNN the case was "referred back to the original agency" as local law enforcement found no crime associated with the incident.

Anything else?

"I don't feel like going back, I'm really uncomfortable," Zubi told WABC after the incident, having been out of school over the incident for several days. "I don't want to see anyone, and I've been in my room all day -- don't want to see my friends, especially after what that teacher said to me."

But he told CNN he returned to school Monday and that he wants "a public apology to me and my family."

Zubi is captain of the soccer team and last year was named one of the top goalkeepers in northern New Jersey — second-team all-league in Division 4 — with 93 saves, NorthJersey.com reported.

His mother worked at the Ridgefield Memorial High School, WABC noted, adding that his older brothers graduated from there. And one of them — Anas Zubi — told the station the teacher's remark was painful: "To see my little brother, a minority, 17 years old, to hear a comment like that, you know, it broke my heart."

Drag show at public HS football game features students, teachers: 'Be OK with being your authentic self ... speaking your truth, living your truth'



A Vermont public high school held a "drag ball" during halftime of the school's homecoming football game as students and teachers took turns parading in dresses, wigs, and makeup before a decidedly rainbow-hued crowd last Friday, the Associated Press reported.

What are the details?

"Things went amazing," Ezra Totten — student leader of the Gender Sexuality Alliance at Burlington High School — told the AP in regard to the drag show that also included participants from South Burlington High School. "The stands were completely packed. ... It was just so heartwarming to see."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

About 30 students and faculty members dressed as drag queens and kings — or a combination of the two — sashayed in front of the crowd, which started to chant, "Drag Ball!" the outlet said.

'Speaking your truth, living your truth'

Athletic Director Quaron Pinckney suggested the show be held at homecoming, the AP said.

"Be OK with being your authentic self ... speaking your truth, living your truth," he said of the meaning behind the event, according to NBC News.

Pinckney added that "we have a diverse community ... in thoughts and action as well ... and this is just one step ..." the network said.

The AP noted that Pinckney is black and that Burlington High gave him the space to "uplift my voice" so he could "uplift the voices of another marginalized group and share a space in the athletics realm that doesn't normally get shared."

Andrew LeValley — an English teacher and alliance adviser at the school — came up with the idea for the drag show, the outlet added.

"We had some people that are pretty involved in theater come in and talk about how you put on a persona," LeValley explained to the AP, adding that he dressed in a Shakespearean burgundy gown and a wig for the event.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"I was just really hoping to give our students — who are both out and the students that were in the stands who are not out — a moment to shine and feel loved, and know that there is a place for them in public schools," he added to the outlet.

Principal Lauren McBride told the AP she heard a dad talking during the game to his two sons who didn't know the drag ball would be the halftime show — and that he explained to them what dressing in drag means, "and it was like, 'This is really cool.'"

Vermont High School Students, Faculty Dress In Drag For Homecoming Football Gameyoutu.be

Yet another HS tries to censor 'very Christianized' speech by valedictorian — and reverses course when called out by law firm



On the heels of a Michigan high school valedictorian being told faith references in her graduation speech are "not appropriate" — and then the principal reversing her position after getting a complaint letter from a law firm — yet another high school in the state decided against carrying out the same move toward censorship after the same law firm complained.

What are the details?

First Liberty Institute sent a Tuesday letter to Michael Wegher — principal of John Glenn High School in Westland — over his attempt to censor the "very Christianized" portion of Savannah Lefler's speech set to be part of senior honors night, which is scheduled next week.

Lefler's original speech notes that philosophies espoused by the likes of Plato and Charles Darwin are "wrong" — and then she declares that, "The purpose of life is to live a life devoted to Christ. Westminster Catechism Number One, 'The Chief Purpose for Which Man is Made is to Glorify God, and to Enjoy Him Forever,'" the letter says.

Wegher told Lefler that her speech needed a "revision" since "we have students and staff who would identify as Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindi, Sikh, Jehovah's Witnesses, atheist, etc. We must be inclusive and respectful of their beliefs as well," the letter adds.

Pushback

First Liberty's letter informed the principal that "student graduation speeches constitute private speech, not government speech, and private speech is not subject to the Establishment Clause. Contrary to your assertion, Ms. Lefler's statements do not transform into government speech simply because they are delivered in a public school setting or channel."

The law firm told Wegher that his actions constitute "violating students' rights under the Free Speech Clause" and requested that he "allow Ms. Lefler to express her private religious beliefs in her Honors Night speech" by Wednesday.

That was fast

Well, First Liberty said in a news release Wednesday the school's decision was "reversed" and that Lefler would be allowed to deliver she speech in the way she wanted.

The law firm said while the school district's response didn't concede "a legal requirement," it allows a "one-time non-negotiable relinquishment of control" that lets her give her remarks with a disclaimer stating that the speech is not endorsed by the school.

"May God be glorified in the situation," Lefler said in reaction to the decision, First Liberty said. "I'm thankful I will be able to share my faith in Christ with my classmates and pray that this never happens to another student in the future."

But the district doesn't seem too pleased

According to the Christian Post, the letter from the school district's attorney told First Liberty that its legal position was "without any merit whatsoever."

"Nearly half of Ms. Lefler's draft speech was unmoored from any sort of academic or pedagogical interest related to the School District's Honors Convocation. Rather, it was an attempt to proselytize at a school-sponsored event, with the School District's imprimatur," attorney Kevin T. Sutton wrote, according to the outlet.

Sutton's letter added, "Indeed, it is not a speech — it is a sermon," the Christian Post noted.

The outlet added that the draft of Lefler's speech also said, "Seeing that man is completely unable to achieve perfection, God made a way for us to be reconciled to Him through the perfect life of Jesus Christ, who is God in flesh."

It also said, "He not only lived perfectly, but he was killed on a cross and took the punishment that humans deserve. Then he rose from the dead three days later, thus vindicating His holiness and divinity. This allows us to fulfill our purpose in glorifying God because we can now stand before Him blameless if we repent and trust in Christ and His finished work. May His name be praised forever!" the Christian Post said.

'Victory': Christian valedictorian now allowed to mention her faith in graduation speech after principal called out by law firm



A valedictorian from a Michigan high school now is allowed to mention her Christian faith in her graduation speech set for next week after the school's principal — who had said the faith reference was "not appropriate" — was called out in a complaint letter, First Liberty Institute said.

In a brief note on its website titled, "Victory: Michigan High School Student No Longer Censored,Michigan High School Student No Longer Censored," First Liberty said Hillsdale High School reversed its decision preventing Elizabeth Turner from referencing her faith.

"We are grateful to school officials for acting swiftly to ensure that religious students can freely exercise their right to express their faith in a graduation speech," Keisha Russell, Counsel for First Liberty Institute, said. "Elizabeth is thrilled that she'll be able to celebrate her graduation without being censored. We hope that future graduates will be free from religious censorship."

Turner noted that she's "grateful I will be able to share my faith with my classmates, and I pray that God uses this situation to advance His kingdom."

What's the background?

According to First Liberty, one section of Turner's speech noted, "For me, my future hope is found in my relationship with Christ. By trusting in him and choosing to live a life dedicated to bringing his kingdom glory, I can be confident that I am living a life with purpose and meaning. My identity is found by what God says and who I want to become is laid out in scripture."

The legal firm said the school's principal, Amy Goldsmith, reacted by highlighting that paragraph, along with a second, and telling Turner that "you are representing the school in the speech, not using the podium as your public forum. We need to be mindful about the inclusion of religious aspects. These are your strong beliefs, but they are not appropriate for a speech in a school public setting. I know this will frustrate you, but we have to be mindful of it."

Image source: First Liberty Institute

What happened next?

Turner got in touch with First Liberty, and the law firm said it sent a letter to Goldsmith informing her that she's "violating federal law, which permits private religious speech at school events, and demanding that she allow Elizabeth to reference her faith."

First Liberty also said student graduation speeches constitute private speech, not government speech, and private speech is not subject to the Establishment Clause. The law firm added that Turner's statements "do not transform into government speech simply because they are delivered in a public setting or to a public audience."

The letter concluded by requesting that Goldsmith "allow Elizabeth Turner to express her private religious beliefs at the graduation ceremony on June 6, 2021. Please confirm that you agree to our request by Friday, May 28, 2021 at 5PM."

(H/T: Christian Post)