KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge denied a request for a preliminary injunction by Park Hill School District parents that would have readmitted four students who were either expelled or suspended due to their involvement in a petition to "start slavery again."
In September, four freshman at Park Hill South High School started a change.org petition while on a school bus traveling to a football game.
The lawsuit alleges that one of the plaintiffs created the petition and then shared it in a Snapchat group. The three other plaintiffs in the case then commented on the petition.
The plaintiff who published the petition was expelled from school, and the three others received 180-day suspensions, according to the lawsuit.
The parents of the students then sued the district for how it handled the punishment, alleging that the students' first amendment rights and their 14th amendment due process and equal protection rights were violated.
The suit wants the court to expunge the four students' records and allow them to return to school.
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If the judge had granted the preliminary injunction, the four students would have returned to school with "full privileges," and the school records of the disciplinary measures would have been temporarily removed.
The judge said that the plaintiffs did not meet all of the requirements for the "extraordinary remedy" of a preliminary injunction.
The next date for this case is a scheduling conference at 10:30 a.m. on March 7.
