Plan B Forum

The family of a teenager on Long Island says they're suing her school for $2 million after administrators wouldn't publish her poem about George Floyd's death in the school magazine, saying it was 'not appropriate' and possibly 'dangerous.'



On Tuesday, the family of Ruby Ray, 16, a 10th grader at Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson, filed a notice of claim in Suffolk County Supreme Court, an action that typically comes ahead of a lawsuit.

Ruby had penned a poem called 'Derek Chauvin's Ode to George Floyd: A Dark Sonnet.' Her parents say Ruby, who is white, is being discriminated against by the mostly white school because her poem 'promoted the cause of African-Americans.'


The notice of claim, which alleges a violation of Ruby's First Amendment rights, came on the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death, although the Ray family chalks that up to being a coincidence.

'I thought this was a free country and you have the right to express yourself in any way you choose,' Ruby told the New York Post.

The notice alleges that administrators at the school banned Ruby's sonnet 'in order to please, protect, promote, placate and defend white racism in Respondents' school and community, and white racism in general.'

The claim asserts Ruby's First Amendment rights have been violated, names the principal of her school, as well as the faculty adviser for the literary magazine and the school district at-large.

The claim mentions that the community and the school district are made up by a large majority of white people: The New York State Education Department says white students made up 81 percent of Vandermeulen High School in the 2019-20 school year.

Meanwhile, black students made up less than 1 percent of the student body last year, according to the Education Department.

The school magazine's faculty adviser, English teacher Matthew Sefick, told Ruby in an email, according to the Post: 'This is an emotionally charged piece no matter how you look at it, and emotions run deep in an audience. … There is no back and forth discussion the way that we are having, and that can be dangerous.'

Principal Eric Haruthunian said the school wouldn't publish the poem, according to an email on Monday seen by the Post. District Superintendent Jessica Schmettan wouldn't comment.

In New York, at least 30 days must pass between a notice of claim and the filing of a lawsuit, giving defendants time to investigate and intervene.

John Ray, Ruby's father and a lawyer, accused the school of being racist in comments to the New York Post.

'It's just racist — that's the only thing driving it,' John said. 'It's a powerful poem. It says what has to be said.'

Ruby's poem is titled 'Derek Chauvin's Ode to George Floyd: A Dark Sonnet,' named in part for the police officer convicted of murder in Floyd's death.

Crackpot wrote: ↑

Wed May 26, 2021 11:01 am

It really depends on the standard submission and publishing policy of the school. If they have an every submission is published guideline as long as it meets X, Y, and Z standards they have a point.

Crackpot wrote: ↑

Wed May 26, 2021 11:01 am

Still the story feels a lot like white privilege attacking itself.

MajGenl.Meade wrote: ↑

Wed May 26, 2021 1:48 pm

Probably should have just let it be published. Why not?

MajGenl.Meade wrote: ↑

Wed May 26, 2021 1:48 pm

Probably should have just let it be published. Why not?

ex-khobar Andy wrote: ↑

Wed May 26, 2021 5:37 pm

Yes; it's not a first amendment case

ex-khobar Andy wrote: ↑

Wed May 26, 2021 5:37 pm

Not sure where the $2 mill comes from because the taxpayers will of course have to come up with it.

Sue U wrote: ↑

Wed May 26, 2021 7:41 pm

It most certainly is a First Amendment case: it involves action by governmental actors to deny the student's expression on the basis of its content in a forum presumably open to all of the high school's students.

The notice alleges that administrators at the school banned Ruby's sonnet 'in order to please, protect, promote, placate and defend white racism in Respondents' school and community, and white racism in general.'

The claim asserts Ruby's First Amendment rights have been violated, names the principal of her school, as well as the faculty adviser for the literary magazine and the school district at-large.