Girard senior taking school officials to court

The Girard student suggested violence against those who turned him in to police, his principal alleges.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN – A Girard High School senior seeks a temporary restraining order to stop school officials from prohibiting his involvement in school events, including commencement.

The action was filed Thursday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court by 18-year-old David B. West III, of East Second Street, against the school; Superintendent Joseph Jeswald; and William Ryser, high school principal.

A hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday before Judge W. Wyatt McKay.

In his complaint, West alleges that on April 13 there was an “impromptu gathering” at his home attended by students ages 16 to 20, and the other students brought beer and other intoxicants with them to the nonschool function.

Girard police were called and arrested a number of juveniles and adults. West says he was not charged.

The school initiated a disciplinary proceeding against West, the complaint says, and he was banned beginning May 20 from being involved in any school activities, including band events, senior breakfast, graduation photographs and June 1 commencement.

West claims that other students who were at his home and charged by police were not punished to the extent he has been disciplined, thus his punishment amounted to “quasi-selective prosecution.”

Jeswald and Ryser could not be reached to comment.

However, the school’s position is contained in a May 2 letter from Ryser to West notifying him of his prohibition from school activities.

“Participation in extracurricular activities is a privilege and not a right,” Ryser wrote, noting West violated the student code of conduct/student disciplinary code.

Ryser informed West that West had hosted a party in which underage students were drinking. The letter said that West disrupted the school by “suggesting violence against and verbally abusing the students whom David [West] believed had reported him for hosting a party where underage students consumed alcohol.”

Ryser told West that he has failed to take full responsibility for his actions. Rather, he has minimized his role in the party. Also, the principal wrote that West told him that being caught previously for violating school codes has not stopped him from inappropriate behavior, and getting caught April 13 will not “deter him from doing the same again.”

yovich@vindy.com