The story goes on under the ad In 2017, Oliver’s mother sued Arnold, the Klein Independent School District, and several other Klein Oak High School teachers, who, according to the lawsuit, participated in a multi-year campaign to intimidate Oliver and infringe on her rights to First Modification. Oliver, who has since grown up and taken over the case, also claims that school and district officials have not been able to stop the harassment. In 2020, a federal judge dismissed Oliver’s lawsuit against the district and all school staff except Arnold. Lawyers for the civil rights group American Atheists represented Oliver in the case and announced on Tuesday that, after more than four years, they had compromised with Arnold. As a result, the Texas School Board Association – a state-funded school district-wide risk group – agreed to pay $ 90,000 to Arnold. The story goes on under the ad “Non-religious students are often intimidated or harassed for expressing their deep beliefs,” said Nick Fiss, president of American Atheists. “No one should endure the years of harassment, disrespect and intimidation that our client has faced. “The fact that this happened in a public school and in the hands of staff who should know better is particularly appalling.” Neither Arnold nor his lawyers responded immediately Wednesday to a request for comment from the Washington Post. Throughout high school, Oliver “sat respectfully” during the promise hundreds of times, the lawsuit states. He did so because of objections to saying the words “under God” and because he “believes that many people, especially African Americans, do not receive freedom and justice” in the United States. The story goes on under the ad “I sit down because I do not think we live in a country where there is justice and freedom for all,” Oliver told BBC News in 2017, while still watching Klein Oak. At 17, he said he hoped to start a movement to shed light on “major political issues”. As a result, teachers and students harassed her for years, while administrators chose only “temporary and ineffective” protections, Oliver claims in her suit. The alleged bullying became so bad that her mother pulled her from Klein Oak for the spring semester of 2017, choosing to train her at home. When he returned the following school year, the bullying resumed and intensified, according to court records. In August 2017, nearly 50 high-ranking school officials from across the region met for a monthly “collaborative meeting,” U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal wrote in a summary of the case. A prosecutor introduced the group to constitutional rights in schools, explaining that students had the opportunity to abstain. The story goes on under the ad Shortly before school began for the year, Klein Oak school officials gathered Oliver’s teachers, including Arnold, to convey this message – Oliver did not have to deliver on his promise. On September 20, 2017, Arnold played Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” before instructing students to write about how it made them feel the song, according to Oliver’s lawsuit. He later gave them the task of writing pledges, “not to force orthodoxy,” he said during the legal process, but to show that people sometimes recite it blindly “without thinking about what they are actually saying.” In fact, Arnold added, most students can not write it, even after reciting it daily for years. Arnold said he combines the two tasks because “many students feel that the song is patriotic, but when asked to pay attention to the words of the song, they feel that the lyrics of the song do not reflect a patriotic intention.” The story goes on under the ad Administrators later reprimanded Arnold for his commitment work, telling him he was “neutral in class discussions” and “sensitive to student rights,” according to court documents. Arnold is still working at Klein Oak High School as a social studies teacher, according to a staff list. In 2020, the district honored him with an article about the start of the 50th year of school. “Sir. Arnold is a huge supporter of all things Klein Oak,” said Director Thomas Hensley in the article.
