LEWISTON – The Lewiston High School principal and leaders of the Maine College Republicans have reached an understanding after the group publicly claimed the high school violated a student’s right to free speech when he tried to hand out newspapers during school.
They agreed to work together to ensure similar situations don’t arise in the future.
Brent Bowen, the high school senior at the center of the battle, said he would push for an academic bill of rights, a nonbinding document that outlines free speech rights and responsibilities.
Principal Patrick O’Neill said he would learn more about the bill of rights and perhaps offer support if it goes to the School Committee for approval.
O’Neill, Bowen and Nathaniel Walton, chairman of the Maine College Republicans, called the half-hour meeting cordial and productive.
“We had a really good talk,” Bowen said.
The two sides remain divided, however, on what actually happened during the newspaper incident.
It happened three weeks ago when 17-year-old Bowen, founder of the high school’s Republican club, handed out copies of the Maine College Republicans’ newspaper during lunch. A teacher stopped Bowen and asked if he had permission to distribute the papers. Although Bowen didn’t think he needed permission, he left, got an assistant principal’s approval and returned to the cafeteria with his papers.
In a statement sent to media outlets and Republicans a week after the incident, College Republicans alleged that a group of teachers confronted Bowen, threatened him with suspension and ripped up several newspapers. The group called the teachers’ behavior “unprofessional” and “reprehensible.”
The press release caused an immediate flood of phone calls and e-mails to school officials.
Principal O’Neill said he had no idea the newspaper incident had even happened until a copy of the release landed on his desk. After talking with Bowen and the teacher involved, he said only one teacher challenged Bowen and that she never threatened him with suspension. He believes no papers were ripped up in anger, although a few were likely thrown away as cafeteria workers cleaned up.
The two sides met early last week to share their concerns. They talked about free speech and the school’s responsibilities.
“We had a philosophical discussion,” O’Neill said.
Bowen called it a positive meeting.
“We made a lot of steps to remedy the situation so an incident like this doesn’t happen again,” he said.
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