LOWER LAKE >> Two Lower Lake High School students discovered they had classroom participation grades docked by their teacher last week because of their refusal to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance.
The story gained regional attention, appearing on network newscasts in the Bay Area and Sacramento. Social media sites also picked up on the protest.
One of the students, Leilani Thomas, told Sacramento news station ABC 10 that she was protesting the flag because of the country’s treatment of Native Americans — something she claimed to have been doing since second grade. Identifying as a Native American herself, she said this was the first time she’s been punished for it.
Thomas received a lower score in her participation grade by an as of yet unidentified teacher.
“That’s confidential staff information,” Konocti Unified School District Superintendent Donna Becnel said, confirming Thomas’s story while declining to comment on the disciplinary action for the instructor. “We are not releasing [it].”
Becnel is, however, on the side of the teens and supports their freedom of speech.
“Students don’t lose their First Amendment rights when they come to school,” she said.
The students were allowed to transfer to a different class, the superintendent added. She also sent a memo district-wide reminding teachers of the First Amendment rights of students.
“She told me I was being disrespectful and I was pretty mad,” Thomas said in an interview with the news station. “She was being disrespectful to me also, saying I was making bad choices, and I don’t have the choice to sit during the pledge.”
The other student wasn’t identified.
Two out of five points were taken from their grades.
