Dan Kvitrud

OLPD 5344

Professor Paula Forbes

July 28th, 2022

Getting Out of The Starting Gates

Education takes an infinite number of shapes, styles, and forms. Each person’s journey

of education lasts a lifetime and my time in this course has enhanced my educational journey.

Even though I’ve been in the education business for over a decade, it feels as if my race to

career success has been on a track where I’ve been allowed to use training wheels. Since 2009

I’ve largely worked in private and international schools both here in Minnesota and overseas in

Taiwan and China. I have yet to experience the realities of lawsuits that take place in public

school. Keeping that in mind, the three areas that I will be focusing on in this reflective paper

will be free speech, bullying and harassment, and what role schools will play in the coming

years.

When I was a student in a public grade school, I was educated in typical suburban

Minnesota fashion. I grew up in a mostly white community, played a few sports, joined a church

choir, and got decent enough grades. I generally never had the need to speak out over

something. Even if I had a qualm with a teacher, my teachers at home, namely my parents,

would give the benefit of the doubt to the teacher/instructor/coach etc. before engaging in

discussion with me. I realize now, twenty years removed from middle and high school, two
blatant observations from my time as a student. My educational experience was not like

everyone else’s, and the educational system isn’t set up to be as successful for some of my

peers, as it was for me, particularly when it comes to free speech.

One case study that has stuck out for me throughout this course is Mahaney Area

School District (MASD) vs. B.L. and the concept of voicing disruption in an educational setting.

Without going into detail about the case (as it’s been frequently cited in class) I was amazed to

discover the student ultimately was victorious in her lawsuit against the school. While her

language and actions were deplorable, she was free to express her strong displeasure for a

coaching decision. If this issue came across my future desk prior to this course, I would have

likely taken the same course of action as the sitting administrator in MASD. Upon completion of

this course however, I have found the need to remind myself that many students today aren’t

expected to operate in the same parameters I was when I was a high school student. I cannot

simply punish a student because I think their actions are “wrong”. Instead, I need to carefully

evaluate what free speech is, how it can be expressed, and ultimately determine if it reasonably

interrupted education. I distinctly remember not making a team when I was in school, and

despite my disappointment I recognize that if I were to follow a similar course of action, I would

have been heavily reprimanded by my parents and the school, and likely would not have taken

legal action.

What I also takeaway, two decades removed from my secondary education, is how few

suspensions we had in school. As previously mentioned, my high school graduating class did not

have high levels of racial diversity, and it wasn’t until I student taught in Fridley Public Schools,

and subsequently taught overseas in Asia that I experienced life as a minority. In my

professional experience, I have seen educational racism firsthand, through comments, actions,

and follow-up procedures regarding discipline. It’s no secret that suspension rates are highest

among African-American boys (NCES 2019), that lower socio-economic areas largely dwelled in

by minority communities make up schools that are considered “tough” by many, and that

graduation rates in those schools are often lower than those in higher earning economic areas.

We have learned that students in these areas need more empathy, passion, and resources in

school-not more time out of school.

My archaic view of bullying and harassment is of the belief that bullying means some

pushing and shoving on the school playground. It was only after my presentation with two of

my peers regarding bullying and harassment and we defined harassment that I became

enlightened with the many shapes, sizes, and methods bullying and harassment can take.

Unfortunately, these negative situations are much more prevalent than I believed them to be.

Obviously, the high-profile cases of harassment based on race right here in the Twin Cities

scream the need for change, and federal and state laws are an excellent catalyst in the change.

As a Minnesota State High School League official, I was keenly aware of a recent racial incident

not just involving one student, but rather an entire portion of a student body. (Turtinen, 2022)

If I were an administrator at a more rural school when a student-athlete of mine harassed a

more minority-based institution fellow athlete based on race, I would have immediately needed

to act. In my estimation, I’m highly concerned with greater metro schools playing racially

diverse schools-unfortunately I believe those contests will deliver more and more racially

insensitive moments as we move forward.

 As current University of Minnesota professor, Matt Hillmann, (Hillmann 2022) has

summarized, public schools are the last chance we have to help educate our entire community,

both in the present and future. The vast majority of American adolescents populate our

schools. We as teachers and administrators are charged with leading them to help them

understand what rights they have and how best to take advantage of their skills and

opportunities. Up until taking this course, my knowledge of school law in both a historical and

present context was at an elementary level at best. Becoming more familiar with the wide

variety of laws and cases we examined, I feel much more confident in leading a learning

institution, knowing it each day on the job are the best chances to positively impact a younger

community who desperately needs strong mentorship.

Works Cited:

Hillmann, M. (2022) Personal Communication. July 19th, 2022

Mahanoy Area School District vs. B.L. No. 20-255. (U.S. Supreme Court, October 2020)
Retrieved from: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20-255_g3bi.pdf

No Author. (February 2019). Indicator 15 Retention, Suspension, and Expulsion. National Center
for Education Statistics. Retrieved from:
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_rda.asp#:~:text=This%20pattern%20of
%20higher%20percentages,percent%20of%20Black%20female%20students.

Turtinen, M. (February 22, 2022) In Wake Of Racist Incidents, St. Louis Park High School Says It
Won’t Compete Against New Prague. Bring Me The News. Retrieved From:
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/after-racist-incidents-st-louis-park-hs-wont-
compete-against-new-prague