SCHOOL BOARD HEARS STUDENT BANNER CASE

In a Juneau School Board hearing lasting more than four hours Wednesday
evening, attorneys and witnesses for Juneau-Douglas High School senior
Joseph Frederick and the Juneau School District painted two very different
pictures of the student and the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner he held at
January's Olympic Torch Relay.

Frederick is seeking to expunge from his student record a 10-day suspension
he received for holding the banner. Superintendent Gary Bader upheld the
suspension last month, and Wednesday's hearing was Frederick's appeal to
the full School Board. The board will issue a written decision within a week.

During the proceedings, which are typically closed but were opened to the
public at Frederick's request, his attorney, Doug Mertz, argued that
Frederick was a citizen - outside the realm of school - exercising his
constitutional rights.

"I think we can all conclude that it wasn't the brightest thing to do," he
said. "But the U.S. Constitution does not protect just intelligent speech."

Mertz said watching the torch relay was not an organized school activity -
during which school officials may have had justification for removing the
banner - but instead a free-for-all, with some students leaving school
grounds to go downtown.

"We know that the relay was not sponsored by the school in any way," he
said. "All that happened was that the principal said, 'Teachers, you may
release your classes to watch.' ... There was no deeper involvement."

JDHS Principal Deb Morse, testifying for the administration, said watching
the torch was a school-sanctioned activity to allow students to see a
historic event.

"We had directed teachers that they could opt to take their students
outside and they were to supervise their students while they were outside,"
Morse said.

Bader testified that in the realm of a school activity, "the problem (with
the banner) is because of the message it conveys.

"Common parlance is that 'bong hits' is a reference to smoking marijuana.
... Our failure to have acted in this instance would have been tantamount
to an endorsement."

In addition, Morse said Frederick's actions following her initial contact
with him on the street - not immediately dropping the banner and not coming
directly to her office - were as significant as the banner itself.

Displaying the banner "did start the incident," she said, "but we would
have had a lot different outcome had Joseph come to my office and talked
about (the incident).

"More than anything, it was not cooperating with the investigation and not
following staff directives."

Frederick said the banner was an assertion of free speech and did not refer
directly to drug use or anything else, and testified that he found "the
meaning of it to be whatever anyone's personal preferences direct them to."

Frederick also testified that he was not given the opportunity to drop the
banner before Morse removed it, and said he was on his way to Morse's
office after the incident when he was stopped by officials in a school hallway.

Mertz said Frederick's decision to display the banner was a test of rights
that Frederick felt, from previous experiences, had been violated.

"He had had run-ins (over) his rights," he said. "He was ready to test the
limits in some way."

The school district's attorney, Ann Gifford, said that test crossed the line.

"Joseph is a student who has made a series of poor choices," she said.
"This is a time when he should be taking responsibility for the consequences."

Additionally, an informal information-gathering hearing was held at the
high school this morning to review a 30-day suspension Frederick received
last week for carrying a Leatherman tool.

School officials said it was a violation of clearly communicated district
weapons policy. Joseph's father, Frank Frederick, said this morning he
feels that policy was not effectively communicated and is selectively enforced.