Superintendent overturns principal's call on Vero Beach High School class election

Laurence Reisman | Treasure Coast Newspapers

Two days after appearing on "Fox & Friends" to plead his case, J.P. Krause has been named Vero Beach High School senior class president.

"After careful review of all the circumstances surrounding the Vero Beach High School Student Government Association Senior Class President election, I have decided to overturn the principal's decisions regarding disqualifying candidates from the election, and will accept the original election results," Superintendent Mark Rendell said Tuesday afternoon.

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Krause, despite gathering nearly half the vote in the April student election, was disqualified by Principal Shawn O'Keefe for allegedly violating Student Government Association rules pertaining to an impromptu speech he gave in an Advanced Placement U.S. History class.

The decision announced Tuesday afternoon did not fully satisfy Krause's attorney. Mark Miller, of the nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation, offered to represent the student for free after reading Krause got in trouble for his hyperbole-laced speech.

"You can't fix it halfway," said Miller, noting the School District has not yet stricken Krause's file of the school administration's conclusion the speech "harassed" another candidate. The candidate initially was disqualified for reasons school officials would not release. Krause got detention for the alleged harassment.

Meanwhile, the Indian River County School District might be looking at legal action from another front: the young woman named class president in April after the initial disqualifications.

Juliana Marrero, who finished third in the voting but was announced the winner, was "devastated" by Tuesday's news, said her father, Juan.

"They stripped her of her presidency," he said. "Why should she be penalized for this because of an error (the school) made?"

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Marrero said he would consider hiring an attorney for his daughter, explaining Rendell did not want to listen to alternatives he or his wife, Dawn, proposed.

"He's not even giving us a chance," said Dawn Marrero, who suggested Rendell get the three candidates and their families together to reach a solution.

The Marreros' other suggestion is their daughter and Krause share the presidency.

Krause said school officials didn't give him a fair hearing before disqualifying him three days after the election while he was in West Virginia winning awards for the school at the National Academic Games.

While Krause was devastated by the news, at least he found out through school channels.

Juliana Marrero said she found out about the school's decision from her mother shortly before the school's vice president congratulated Krause on the Student Government Association group chat. Earlier on his Facebook page, Indian River County School Board member Shawn Frost announced Krause's presidency.

"I'm very upset," Marrero said, explaining she was class president at Treasure Coast High School for three years before moving to Vero Beach for her father's job in 2016. A varsity basketball player, Marrero said she already had begun working on 2017-18 plans. "It's not fair they made a mistake, and I have to be humiliated like this."

As I noted in past columns, which defended Krause's right to free speech, school officials handled this poorly. First, they drafted rules that, if enforced, abridged students' right to reasonable free speech. Then they enforced them without fully examining issues Krause never had an opportunity to raise.

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Rendell offered this emailed statement:

"I do believe that Mr. O’Keefe and his staff were acting in good faith and were enforcing rules that governed the election and general student behavior," Rendell said. "However, many procedural issues were raised about the candidates running for president, as well as the rules governing the SGA election. So I believe we should respect the will of the voters."

School officials have not released the name of the second-place candidate, whom I have been unable to contact. I can only imagine how difficult this has been for her.

But to be named class president only to have it taken away through no fault of her own?

"She's the only person that has followed the rules, and now she has been stripped of her seat," Juan Marrero said.

The lack of common sense began with pain for one person and it's ending — or is it? — with pain for another. These students are teenagers. Parents must have trust in school officials to do the right thing.

That's why it pays to thoroughly research issues at the outset, make prudent decisions and get them right from Day 1.

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.