Student Who Led 'Don't Say Gay' Protest Can't Run for Class President
for leading a protest against the state’s new "don’t say gay" law at his high school now says the school is preventing him from running for class president.Jack Petocz, 17, said school authorities at Flagler Palm Coast High School are saying the disciplinary actions he received for leading those protests now preclude him from running for any student body office.“My name is Jack Petocz, and I am a 17-year-old gay student activist in Flagler County,” Petocz posted to social media, detailing his efforts organizing over 500 students in the protests.
These efforts included the personal purchase of over 300 Pride flags, which he distributed despite school officials classifying than as a “political statement.”Petocz, a political strategist associate with Gen-Z for Change, characterized the protests as a success, but school officials viewed things differently.
He detailed how he was called into the Principal Greg Schwartz’s office where he was “interrogated by staff” before he was escorted off campus and suspended from classes for four days.
Upon his return, Petocz claims he was assured no further disciplinary action would be taken against him.“A month later, they broke this verbal agreement and placed a level 3 referral on my record,” Petocz wrote in his statement. “Now, due to this high level of discipline, I am being prevented from running for senior class president.
