SEBASTIAN — Hundreds marched Monday in Gifford to remember civil rights struggles of the past, but some of the North County’s youngest political activists recently found out that exercising their Constitutional rights is not something to be taken for granted.
The formation of a student Democrat club at Sebastian River High School necessitated attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union to get involved, at the request of the club leader, after questions arose about vague district policies regarding students’ right to organize.
Though the parties involved claim there is currently “no controversy” surrounding Sebastian River High School’s Young Democrats Club now that the club is up and running, public records indicate that getting there was a bumpy ride. Whatever the non-controversy was, it consumed about eight hours and nearly $1,400 of the school district’s high-priced attorney Suzanne D’Agresta’s time.
Club President Casey Keeler, a high school senior who also started the school’s Green Club, said she had the idea for a student Democrat club last summer.
Keeler belongs to the county’s Young Democrats organization, so she applied to form a group at school after classes resumed last fall.
The matter of the club showed up in the detailed invoices of Indian River School District Attorney Suzanne D’Agresta beginning in October.
On Oct. 5, according to the invoices, D’Agresta billed the district one hour for reading an email from Sebastian Principal Todd Racine, researching school district rules and writing an email back to Racine about her findings.
Then on Nov. 5, the issue came up again, with D’Agresta billing 2.4 hours for various duties, including “telephone call to T. Racine regarding student club.”
That same day, the district was billed 0.1 hours for “Email to B. Stevenson to schedule conference with SDA (Suzanne D’Agresta) regarding Sebastian River High School Democrat Club.”
Benjamin James Stevenson is the staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida’s Northwest Regional Office in Pensacola.
On Nov. 6 – Election Day – D’Agresta billed the district 0.4 hours for reading an email from Stevenson and drafting an email to Indian River County School District Superintendent Dr. Fran Adams about the student Democrat club.
On Nov. 8, D’Agresta billed for a 36-minute telephone conference with Stevenson and another ACLU staffer, but apparently there were still unresolved issues.
On Nov. 16, D’Agresta billed the district 4.1 hours to “Review letter from B. Stevenson regarding student democrat club; research issues presented; outline issues to address and additional information needed.”
All told, the school board’s attorney spent roughly eight hours dealing with the issue over a seven-week period, indicating that the district initially resisted the formation of the club and, being pushed by the ACLU, permitted Keeler to form her club.
Keeler was hesitant to speak about any issues she had in setting up the club, referring back to the ACLU attorney’s advice that they speak for her.
But she did offer some insight into the dustup.
“It was the election and they didn’t want politics in the school,” she said.
What caused her to seek assistance from the ACLU was, she said, “The school board’s rules about clubs is very vague. I contacted the ACLU to discuss Constitutional boundaries. I wanted to make sure I could start my club without any trouble.”
Racine, who had just taken over the principal’s office at Sebastian River High School at the beginning of the school year, would not confirm that Keeler’s application to form the club was rejected by him or by anyone else.
Racine would not comment on the ACLU’s involvement, but he said that he sought advice from the district headquarters to clarify a policy.
“The school district has a policy against political advertisement,” Racine said.
Keeler would not comment on whether or not her club had been given guidelines about what they are forbidden from posting or wearing or saying at school.
She almost apologetically repeated her assurances that nothing untoward occurred in the formation of the club.
“Our club is fine, we’re fully functioning right now,” she said. “I don’t want the members to feel like they are being watched.”
Curtis Carpenter, the new chief of staff of the Indian River County Democratic Executive Committee office in Vero Beach, who works with the Young Democrats, said he had no first-hand knowledge of the situation, but that information had been passed down by previous party leaders when he and a new group took over in November.
“Myself personally and the Democratic Party, we stand behind Casey and the Democratic club that she formed at Sebastian River High School,” Carpenter said.
Attorney Stevenson with the ACLU was not available for comment because he is out of the office through the end of January, according to spokesman Baylor Johnson of the ACLU’s press office in Miami.
Johnson said the ACLU got involved in order to “balance the First Amendment rights of the students to organize with the school board policy.”
“There is no controversy really, or there isn’t anymore,” Johnson said.
He said the ACLU, its attorneys and volunteer advocates are called upon on a regular basis to assist students in forming clubs when there is pushback from school administrators.
The ACLU publishes resources for those students and even a handbook on the internet to educate students about their rights.
Just last week, students from Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola overcame the Escambia County School District’s resistance to the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance on campus.
Shortly the Democrat club got up and running, a student Republican club was founded by student Sergio Mato.
Keeler said she doesn’t know Mato and didn’t know any details about the formation of the Republican club.