Hell, she's not graduating!!

[Gob]

PRAGUE, Okla.– There’s a bit of diploma drama going on between a local high school and that school’s valedictorian.

David Nootbaar is furious his daughter’s school is keeping her diploma.

He said, “She has worked so hard to stay at the top of her class and this is not right.”

Kaitlin Nootbaar graduated from Prague High School, the Red Devils, in May and was named valedictorian.

When tasked with writing the graduation speech, her dad said she got her inspiration from the movie “Eclipse: The Twilight Saga.”

Nootbaar said, “Her quote was, ‘When she first started school she wanted to be a nurse, then a veterinarian and now that she was getting closer to graduation, people would ask her, what do you want to do and she said how the hell do I know? I’ve changed my mind so many times.’”

He said in the written script she gave to the school she wrote “heck,” but in the moment she said “hell” instead.

Nootbaar said the audience laughed, she finished her speech to warm applause and didn’t know there was a problem.

That was until she went to pick up the real certificate this week.

“We went to the office and asked for the diploma and the principal said, ‘Your diploma is right here but you’re not getting it. Close the door; we have a problem,’” Nootbaar said.

He said the principal told Kaitlin she would have to write an apology letter before he would release the diploma.

A move her dad believes is illegal.

“She earned that diploma. She completed all the state curriculum. In four years she has never made a B. She got straight A’s and had a 4.0 the whole way through.”

Kaitlin starts college in a few days on a full scholarship, making the administrators’ decision even more appalling to her family.

We tried to get the school’s side of the story.

Superintendent Dr. Rick Martin said in a statement, “This matter is confidential and we cannot publicly say anything about it.”

Kaitlin doesn’t plan on writing an apology letter because she doesn’t feel she did anything wrong.

Her family supports that choice.

Kaitlin sent KFOR-TV this statement Monday afternoon:

“First off, I would like to thank everyone who is backing me on this, especially my friends and family. And to those who don’t agree with me, that is fine also. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and is free to comment however they choose. It’s one of the great advantages of living in a free country. A country where we are free to speak. I would also like to note that I do not hate Prague. I have loved that town since I was a child. I don’t hate the school either, the teachers have always been great! I don’t feel that the whole town should suffer from the mistakes of few. Again, thanks:)”

[dales]

What a silly bunt.

(the principle)

[Econoline]

Also the principal.

[Lord Jim]

Also the principal.

You'll have to forgive Dale....

He's a product of the California public education system....











just like rube....

[dales]

Sorry, I sumtimes make misteaks.

And Jim, byte my assterick.

[Scooter]

I would tell them to keep their diploma and fuck themselves with it. She's got her full ride to college, the second that happened, anyone worth caring about stopped giving a fuck about what happened in high school.

[Grim Reaper]

The transcripts are what matters, and it sounds like she already has those taken care of. The principal is just being petty by withholding the diploma.

[rubato]

I'm with scooter.

They have devalued their own paper to the point she should walk away. I might give them the opportunity to apologize and change their minds.

yrs,
rubato

[dgs49]

The exact same thing happened in my (Catholic) high school in 1967. The valedictorian seasoned his remarks with a couple of vulgarisms and did not get his diploma until he apologized, in writing.

His valedictory speech had been approved in advance, and was to be presented verbatim as approved.

18-year-olds have a "right" to act like 18-year-olds, but they don't have a right to get away with it. The reaction of some posters here is very predictable. Respect for the institution is an unknown quantity for them.

This idiocy has been going on for generations. They want to be free to practice "civil disobedience," but seem to have forgotten that HJT and MLK accepted their punishments as part of the package. "It's all about ME."

[Daisy]

She said the word HELL!

"How the hell do I know"

If she'd said "How the FUCK do I know what the FUCK I want to be I just want to go out and get FUCKING wasted with all the other FUCKERS here" it would have been a different matter.

[Big RR]

What instution did she show disrespect for and how? By saying hell? And that's what, some sort of established rule that it cannot be said? Respect is a two way street, and i see nothing here other than an administrator acting petulantly and making up rules as he goes along. Hardly worthy of respect.

[Grim Reaper]

And she said 'hell' in a school with the Red Devils as their mascot.

[Sean]

If she'd said "How the FUCK do I know what the FUCK I want to be I just want to go out and get FUCKING wasted with all the other FUCKERS here" it would have been a different matter.

It was implied...