TT v. StateTT v. State
We affirm a juvenile‘s conviction for knowingly disrupting a school function. The incidents occurred at an awards ceremony at a high school. The juvenile argues that she was entitled to a judgment of acquittal. From an examination of the record, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence that she “knowingly” disrupted the proceedings.
When one school official was asked to describe the juvenile‘s conduct that led to a decision to have the police remove her, he answered:
“Yelling, screaming. She stood up when she was not permitted to. She came to the back requested to use the bathroom, we told her `no, we‘re too close to dismissal.’ She insisted on going to the bathroom. Instead of us making a big scene, [we] let her pass. When she came out, I was standing there with [another assistant principal] and [we] said ... `when you go back, you‘re to maintain the dignity that‘s expected of you on this occasion.’ Five minutes later or two minutes later, she‘s screaming again. It was that time that we made a decision it was better to have her removed. She was asked to leave. We would have walked her out, had ... her sit in the cafeteria or sit out on the steps out of the Gymnasium. That was our intention just to remove the noise factor.”
Yet when the officer asked her to leave, she refused. The officer testified that he placed his hand behind her right arm to escort her out, and she “jerked backwards refusing to go.” That incident “absolutely” caused “a scene.” With the aid of another officer, the juvenile was forcibly removed. An assistant principal testified that the juvenile‘s refusal to leave with the police officer disrupted the events.
Section 877.13 states that “[i]t is unlawful for any person knowingly to disrupt or interfere with the lawful administration or functions of any educational institution, school board, or activity on school board property in this state.”
It is true that one is entitled to resist an unlawful seizure without violence and thereby avoid committing the crime of resisting arrest. McNeil v. State, 746 So.2d 547, 550 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). Thus while this juvenile might have been able to resist a seizure by officers arising from similar conduct outside of school in the general public, she could not do so at a school function where her resistance itself disrupted the event. There is no suggestion in the testimony of anyone that her conduct in refusing to accompany the police officer was anything but knowing and purposeful on her part.
AFFIRMED.
POLEN, J., concurs.
ANDREWS, ROBERT LANCE, Associate Judge, concurs specially with opinion.
ANDREWS, ROBERT LANCE, concurring specially.
I agree with the holding of the majority, but write separately to emphasize the long recognized principle that “the conduct and discipline of the public schools and public school system is vested primarily in the county boards of public instruction and so long as disciplinary measures imposed by them are within reason, they will not be disturbed.” Satan Fraternity v. Bd. of Pub. Instruction, 156 Fla. 222, 22 So.2d 892, 893 (1945).
In the matter below, appellant was charged with violating
Appellant was charged because she willfully failed to abide by the school‘s regulations regarding conduct at the awards ceremony. As was so eloquently stated by the court in Stevenson v. Wheeler County Board of Education, 306 F.Supp. 97 (S.D.Ga.1969):
Among the things a student is supposed to learn at school ... is a sense of discipline. Of course, rules cannot be made by authorities for the sake of making them but they should possess considerable leeway in promulgating regulations for the proper conduct of students... By accepting an education at public expense pupils at the elementary or high school level subject themselves to considerable discretion on the part of school authorities as to the manner in which they deport themselves. Those who run public schools should be the judges in such matters, not the courts. The quicker judges get out of the business of running schools the better.
The school was acting reasonably in establishing what constituted appropriate behavior at the awards ceremony, and the disciplinary measures to be taken when the administrators found appellant‘s conduct was interfering with a lawful school function. If the school did not arbitrarily exceed its authority, it is not for the courts to interfere with its action.