Student's comments lead to protests and secret graduation at KHS

KELLOGG –– The decision by Kellogg High School principal Dan Davidian to not allow a student to participate in the school’s graduation ceremony has descended into a community divided and no small amount of finger-pointing.

Last Wednesday, the social media rumbling began with several parents expressing their disappointment in KHS.

The cause of the disappointment was not immediately known, but soon it would be the only thing that was spoken about throughout the Silver Valley.

During a school assembly, 18-year-old senior student Travis Lohr stated “Guys are guys and girls are girls. There is no in-between.”

Each graduating senior had been allowed to write down a piece of advice for the underclassmen in attendance – these statements were vetted by a teacher for approval and then handed back to the students in order for them to be read.

That afternoon, following the assembly, Davidian called Lohr’s mother and left a message that has since been made public.

“Travis made a very inappropriate comment today at the PRIDE assembly that we had for PBIS and made a comment related to the gay community. He made it clear he had changed what he was originally going to say. He was very rude and made the comment which was very inappropriate, so where we are at right now is he’ll be suspended from school tomorrow and he will get his high school diploma but he will not walk. He will not be allowed to go to the graduation ceremony on Saturday.”

To address any concerns regarding the nature of the assembly, it was a “Wildcat Pride” assembly as part of a school-wide Positive Behavior Intervention Strategy (PBIS) and have been held monthly throughout the school year. Students who receive a “Wildcat Pride” card from a staff member or other student throughout the month are recognized at the assembly for displaying: Protection, Respect, Integrity, Determination and/or Engagement (PRIDE).

Not anything to do with celebrating the LGBTQ+ community at all.

Lohr, as well as several others firmly believe that his punishment was for what he had said, however, the school seemed to deflect that assertion and has alluded to the students being warned to not go “off script” from what they had written.

Davidian’s voice message essentially backs up both claims – that his comment was deemed offensive and that Lohr changed his statement from the one that had been previously approved.

Lohr admitted to changing his statement during an online video interview with the Idaho Freedom Foundation – He also admitted to being one of a number of students who had participated in a senior prank just a few weeks prior, and those students were warned that any further disciplinary issues would have severe consequences.

Due to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the specifics of the incident that directly related to a specific student are not allowed to be spoken about – unless Lohr were to waive his FERPA rights. Which may or may not fill in some of the missing information.

Despite, whether or not a person agrees with Lohr’s statement, the Kellogg School District administration pointed to their handbook in defense of their decision.

“Although we cannot address the specific nature of the comments that have been reported, we direct you to this information from the KHS Student Handbook addressing freedom of expression,” Kellogg School District superintendent Lance Pearson said. “Again this handbook was provided to every student at Kellogg High School.”

Freedom of Expression: Students are guaranteed freedom of expression as long as they do not disrupt the educational process, are non-compliant with rules and expectations (dress code/offensive language) of KHS, or interfere with the property or the constitutional rights of others. Freedom of expression at KHS should be for the enhancement of learning and not actions that are harmful or inciting, profane or offensive, prejudice or lack of tolerance.

Each student is supposed to review the handbook along with their parents (or guardian), before signing a document stating that they understood its contents.

In the aforementioned KHS Student Handbook, it does give examples of violations as well as examples of potential disciplinary actions.

These included (but weren’t limited to) violations such as “Not following the reasonable request of a teacher or staff member,” and “Other behaviors deemed inappropriate by staff.”

And the potential disciplinary actions include (but weren’t limited to) “A ban from area and/or activity,” as a consequence for any of these violations.

Davidian’s decision, which was challenged by Lohr’s mother and upheld by the school, resulted in a protest on Friday morning where numerous parents, and residents gathered at the school just as a large number of students demonstrated their support for Lohr via a ‘walk out’ of the building.

This was where everything went in a number of directions.

Chants of “LET HIM WALK!” rang down the narrow canyon of Jacobs Gulch.

A large contingent of the protesters were there to protest what they believed to be a violation of Lohr’s First Amendment rights.

There were also those there protesting, like KHS parent Kim Bauer, who wanted no part of any sort of political activism, but to simply have the school change its decision. During this, a rumor began circulating of a counter-protest making its way to the high school, which Bauer believed would only make the situation worse.

“This isn’t against any groups, I don’t know who would protest against this because we’re not protesting against gay or transgender people,” Bauer stated. “We’re protesting that we want this kid to walk. Period.”

People from outside of the Kellogg School District joined in the protest as well, including people from Kootenai County and even students from the Mullan School District.

News-Press staff asked some of the students involved if they understood why they were protesting, including Brady Vergobbi who had permission from his mother to speak to the media.

“I’m protesting for freedom of speech,” Vergobbi said. “Travis has worked hard for 12 years and didn’t direct his statement at any group or at any person, why should he be punished for it? Teachers today want to push on kids that we can’t have freedom of speech or our own opinions. Why?”

Vergobbi did also say that if Lohr was asked not to change his statement and he did it anyway, he should be held accountable for that, but the punishment of not being allowed to walk in his graduation ceremony was too severe.

During the protest, the school went into a soft lockdown and subsequently released all of the students at 10:45 a.m.

After the protest at the school ended, pizza was provided to the protesting students and families at Kellogg City Park.

After the students were gone, the staff at KHS, along with Pearson, held a meeting where they decided to “postpone” Saturday’s graduation ceremony.

They released a statement from the school that included the following information:

“The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office has informed the Kellogg School District of concerns regarding the safety of students, staff, and families due to a number of outside groups and Agitators. Based on the information provided, the decision has been made to postpone the graduation ceremony scheduled for June 3, 2023. When it is determined that the ceremony can be held safely, that information will be shared. We regret having to make this very difficult decision but the safety of our staff, students, their families, and local law enforcement is our top priority.”

The public perception of this statement was that the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office had made the decision to postpone the ceremony – however, Sheriff Holly Lindsay released a statement on Sunday evening that dispelled that idea.

According to Sheriff Lindsay, she approached the school about a potential compromise to allow Lohr to walk in the ceremony but also informed them that she didn’t have the manpower to properly keep the event safe and secure if something were to happen.

In the wake of the postponement, families were outraged by the school’s decision and felt that they were living in the fallout of a fight between Lohr, his family, and the school.

During a private meeting on Friday night, between the district’s officials and the parents of the senior students, a plan was hatched to hold a graduation ceremony at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning – four hours before the originally scheduled ceremony. All of the parents were asked to keep the event as quiet as possible and that it would be postponed again at the first sign of trouble.

Each student had a list of approved guests for the ceremony, which were checked at a security point at the bottom of the school’s parking lot.

And according to the district officials, including Pearson, the ceremony went off without a hitch.

“The Kellogg School district appreciates the support received from local patrons, parents, and agencies such as the SCSO, Kellogg Police Department, the City of Kellogg, and Mayor Mac Pooler,” Pearson said. “With their invaluable help and cooperation, we were able to conduct KHS graduation safely, giving students and their families an opportunity to celebrate the successful completion of their high school education.”

Various media outlets have since taken to different platforms in order to find potential dirt on district employees that would implicate them as the reason behind Davidian’s initial decision to suspend Lohr, these efforts have included digging into their families.

Numerous claims have been made against various staff, and the KSD is monitoring these very closely.

“We have started the process of taking protective measures for staff members who have recently been targeted by individuals from outside our local community with perceived threats of violence and intimidation,” Pearson said. “These acts are despicable and the Kellogg School District is committed to protecting members of our staff.”