Tullahoma High School Principal Who Suspended Student For Posting Memes Left Poorly Performing School Behind After Retirement

Image Credit: tcsedu.net & thefire.org

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

The Tullahoma High School Principal who suspended a student last year for posting memes left a poorly performing school behind after retiring in June.

Jason Quick tendered his resignation, effective June 30th, 2023, after three years at Tullahoma High School citing work-life balance. Quick took the leadership position at the beginning of the 2020 – 2021 school year amidst the chaos of Covid. During his time at the school, few test scores came up to pre-Covid benchmarks and in most cases, the school fared worse during the last round of state assessments than it did the previous year.

Overall English Language Arts TCAP scores showed that Tullahoma High School students were 34% proficient after the 2022 – 2023 school year, down from 40% the previous year.

Before the pandemic, 39% of students were meeting or exceeding benchmarks. After the state resumed testing after Covid, 30% of students were found to be proficient.

Less than a third of 9th graders (28.6%) taking English I during the 2022 – 2023 school year met the benchmarks, 88 students out of a total of 308. In 2019, that number was at 34.5%.

The overall Math proficiency score for Tullahoma High schoolers was 20% this year, down from 24% last year. In 2019, that score was 33%, followed by 21% after the state resumed testing.

After this round of testing in 2023, out of the 284 students in 9th grade at Tullahoma High School taking Algebra I, just 37 met or exceeded expectations. A mere 13.1%. In 2019, 22.3% of 9th graders at the school met the benchmarks.

This year’s Geometry students in 10th grade – 240 students in all – fared better with 23.7% of them – 59 students – meeting or exceeding expectations. However, in 2019, that percentage was 37.8%

In August 2022, Quick suspended a rising senior for posting three memes on the then 17-year-old’s Instagram account that poked fun at the Tullahoma High School Principal.

In a lawsuit being brought against the school, the plaintiff “I.P.” aimed to satirize Quick for his “overly serious demeanor” and posted the series of memes from “his own device, off campus, and on his own time.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) who is representing the Tennessee student has said that the student’s posts are protected First Amendment expression because “they satirized a government official and did not create material disruption, cause substantial disorder, or invade the rights of others at school.”

The suit seeks actual and compensatory damages against Quick and then Assistant Principal Derrick Crutchfield who has since taken over as Principal at Tullahoma High School. In addition, it is also hoped that the school’s social media policy will be deemed unconstitutional.

At the time of the suspension, Quick and Crutchfield defended the disciplinary action citing a school policy which prohibits students from posting images on social media which embarrass, discredit or humiliate another student or member of staff.

FIRE’s lawsuit seeks to affirm Supreme Court law that guarantees the rights of students to engage in nondisruptive, private, off-campus speech. FIRE also seeks to remove the suspension from the students’ record and “halt enforcement of the school’s vague policies.”

FIRE Attorney Conor Fitzpatrick said that as long as a student’s posts do not substantially disrupt school, “what teens post on social media on their own time is between them and their parents, not the government.”

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.