An e-mail from a citizen to the Associate Vice Principal at Sheboygan South High School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin about disciplinary action, violation of policy and civil liberties related to myself, Asher Heimermann.
I wanted to share an e-mail that was sent by Brian Normoyle to Kate Dunning, the Associate Vice Principal at Sheboygan South High School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin about disciplinary action, violation of policy and civil liberties. Below is the full e-mail that I received. I did not edit it or delete words. If you do want to know what this would be relating to, Click Here to read my diary that I posted on Wednesday night.
Kate Dunning
Associate Vice Principal
Sheboygan South High School
3128 South 12th Street
Sheboygan, WI 53081
Dear Ms. Dunning:
I write regarding a disciplinary meeting between you and first-year student Asher Heimermann on Monday 6th October 2008. I understand that his email and internet access has been suspended for one month due to alleged "misuse" of said privileges after he emailed district administrators to request student volunteers for a local political campaign office. I also understand that you issued a written "Bottom Line Referral" to the student for the alleged infraction, in spite of the fact he was not notified a written referral would ensue and did not sign a referral verifying his awareness of the administration's disciplinary intent. Your actions in regards to this matter constitute a flagrant violation of the school's stated Student Conduct Policies and Mr. Heimermann's first amendment rights and civil liberties.
There is no indication whatsoever that Mr. Heimermann's behavior leading up to the October 6th meeting violated school policy or any applicable codes or laws; nor is the use of a school-provided email account to solicit volunteers specifically or explicitly delineated as "computer misuse" or "internet abuse" in the Sheboygan South High School student handbook (see section "Student Conduct Policies" and subsection "Internet Guidelines" on page 16). Publicly posting information with the purpose of soliciting volunteers--even for a political party or campaign--is a constitutionally protected right and the posts have strong educational value by providing students opportunities to learn about the everyday operations of a major federal political campaign. Indeed, the non-partisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement found that secondary students who participated in extracurricular volunteer activities like this have a 19% higher chance of successfully completing college. Mr. Heimermann's emails were:
1. consistent with stated district policies of use;
2. did not facilitate illegal activity of any kind;
3. were not obscene, commercial, for-profit or patently offensive;
4. did not disrupt access to service or equipment; and
5. did not harass or intimidate recipients in any way.
These emails therefore did not violate stated school policy, cannot be considered "computer misuse" or "internet abuse" under school code (pp. 16, 29, 31) and, subsequently, cannot be subjected to arbitrary disciplinary action by you or other administrators because of political bias or preference.
Furthermore, his alleged violation fails to meet the standard of a "Bottom Line" infraction as defined in the school's student handbook, and your decision to issue such a referral for this incident constitutes excessive disciplinary action disproportionate to the assumed offense. The school's "Above the Line" philosophy rightfully places a strong premium on safety, respect and responsibility while defining a Bottom-Line infraction as:
"a more grievous act, such as: tobacco, alcohol and drug violations; fighting; theft; weapons possession; all forms of harassment; gang-related activity; major threats; bomb or fire concerns; substantial vandalism; vulgarity directed at an adult; gross insubordination; or truancy." (p. 25)
Needless to say, even under the most exaggerated standards, soliciting via email student volunteers for an extracurricular educational purpose fails to substantiate the standard of a "Bottom-Line" infraction as delineated in school policy; moreover, Mr. Heimermann did not, at any time, compromise the respect or safety of any student, teacher, staff member or administrator while utilizing his internet privileges. Despite how you may personally feel about Mr. Heimermann's political leanings or affiliations, nothing in his actions warrants the heavy-handed response yielded by you as school administrator.
Finally, though it is clear Mr. Heimermann did not violate school or district policy, considering his disciplinary record and the fact this incident was referred to your office, the administration is in further violation of the school's stated policies. The "Above the Line Philosophy" explicitly states that the "administration is charged with correcting only those offenses that violate the safety of the school." (p. 9, emphasis added) As stated before, in no way was the incident in question a violation of anyone’s safety or security. In all other matters affecting classroom performance or conduct, teachers, not administrators, are given the responsibility to discipline when appropriate. In addition, the handbook promises the "administration will take into account the previous behavior history of the student and the circumstances of the action." (p. 25) Mr. Heimermann does not have an extensive history of violating school policy or compromising the safety of the school environment, and the circumstances of the action in no way warrant the punishment meted out. Also, the handbook assures Mr. Heimermann "the right to fair [and] consistent procedures" (p. 9, emphasis added) when addressing alleged violations; but the manner in which you handled this incident was neither fair nor consistent with school policy.
The underlying result of your—and consequently, the administration’s—actions is the disproportionate and unfair treatment of Mr. Heimermann in violation of the school’s own educator-student contract. Please note that you and the school are likely also to be in violation of district regulations and applicable state and federal laws, including Mr. Heimermann's constitutionally protected rights. Accordingly, Mr. Heimermann is entitled to an expedient redress of his grievances, including but not limited to the immediate reinstatement of his internet privileges and a prompt expunging of any "referrals" or other permanent indications on his disciplinary record relating to this incident.
Meanwhile, to ensure proper investigation into the school's disciplinary process--including the release of any and all communication (electronic or otherwise) between you, other administrators, district staff, faculty and/or students regarding Mr. Heimermann's original emails--and to preclude this from happening to other students in the future, this email has been copied to Principal Pat Flaherty, Superintendent Joseph Sheehan, and State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster. Lastly, due to the potential violation of Mr. Heimermann’s civil rights and access to due process, I have also contacted the American Civil Liberties Union, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and the Center for Individual Rights.
I look forward to seeing a thorough and speedy resolution to this urgent matter.
As of tonight, I have yet to receive a response from Sue Dennis or Kate Dunning about the Open Records Request that I sent on the evening of Wednesday, October 6th. This is important because I want to get those documents and share them with the DailyKos community and others. So far, I have contacted the ACLU, EFF, and FIRE.
Asher Heimermann is a teenager from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. You can learn more information about Heimermann by visiting his official website at www.AsherHeimermann.com.
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