Shawnee Mission administration sends apology letters to student plaintiffs in 1st Amendment case

As part of compliance with the settlement agreement approved by a federal judge in April, the Shawnee Mission School District has issued letters of apology to students who sued the district last year for violating their 1st Amendment rights during the National School Walkout protests in spring 2018.

Plaintiffs received letters by certified mail in recent weeks with a letter signed by Superintendent Michael Fulton. The copy of the apology is as follows:

On behalf of the Shawnee Mission School District, I want to express my sincere and heartfelt apology to you for the incidents that took place around the April 18, 2018, National School Walkout. As educators, it is our responsibility to help students find their voice, and our actions last spring, as detailed in the settlement agreement, fell short of that expectation. We are committed to working with students to support their first amendment rights to free expression and will support that commitment through Board of Education policy and staff training.