photo by: Lawrence school district

Quentin Rials

The Lawrence school district denies allegations that it sought to prevent student journalists from reporting on a lawsuit over its use of Gaggle, stating it has no intention of restricting coverage or retaliating against staff.

At the start of the school year, students who filed a lawsuit against the school district for its use of Gaggle filed a motion through their attorneys alleging that Quentin Rials, the principal of Lawrence High School, issued a directive to the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and its student reporters to not report on the lawsuit.

The students’ motion requested an emergency temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to prohibit the Lawrence school district from “directing, pressuring, coercing, or encouraging any student journalist or journalism adviser to refrain from lawful reporting on this lawsuit.” In addition, it would prohibit the district from taking or threatening employment action against journalism adviser Abbi Epperson-Ladd, as the Journal-World reported.

Nine current and former students from Lawrence and Free State High Schools have filed a lawsuit alleging that the Lawrence school district violated their First Amendment rights through the use of a third-party artificial intelligence program called Gaggle. The software monitors activity on district-issued computers, and the students claim it has led to unlawful searches of their digital files.

District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil denied the temporary restraining order, citing the lifted publication ban and state protections for journalism advisers. She delayed ruling on the preliminary injunction until the Lawrence school district is formally served and can respond.

Last week, Rials submitted a declaration, which included a letter he wrote to The Budget’s editor-in-chief. On Aug. 15, Rials said he wanted to ensure that the school staff and the newspaper were on the same page:The student journalists at Lawrence High School are not restricted in any manner from reporting on topics of interest.

“To be clear, no school or district official will prohibit, delay, condition or otherwise restrain any student journalist or journalism adviser from lawful reporting on any subject going forward,” Rials said in the letter. He added that due to ongoing litigation, as it is district practice, staff will not be commenting on the Gaggle issue.

The students’ motion also said teachers union representative Jeff Plinsky told the editor-in-chief of The Budget that while they have “constitutional rights to do what you want to do,” he urged them to “keep in mind that a young teacher with no due process protections … could (be) fire(d) … tomorrow for no reason,” the motion said. He explained that “for the first three years of a teacher’s contract, they do not have to give a reason to fire a teacher.”

Superintendent Jeanice Swift said in a submitted declaration that the district has no intention of either restricting student reporting related to this lawsuit or threatening any adverse employment action against Epperson-Ladd or anyone else for their role in reporting on the lawsuit.

“The School District would never do either of those things,” Swift said in the declaration.

She added that the district has never communicated to Epperson-Ladd or anyone else that Epperson-Ladd could suffer an adverse employment action because of their role in reporting on the lawsuit.

“Statements to the contrary by Ms. Epperson-Ladd, Jeff Plinsky, or anyone else are inaccurate and do not reflect School District policy,” Swift said.

The school district last month filed a motion requesting more time to respond to the other allegations in the lawsuit. The new deadline for all defendants to file an answer and respond is Oct. 20.