Date: Thursday, April 4th, 2019

To: Volunteer High School

Attn: Mr. Bobby Wines, Principal
1050 Volunteer St.
Church Hill, TN 37642
Fax: 423.357.6694

Copy To: Hawkins County School District Offices

Attn: Matt Hixson; Chris Christian
200 North Depot St.
Rogersville, TN 37857
Hawkinscountyschools@hck12.net

From: Kevin W. Teets, Jr.

Law Office of Kevin Teets
PO Box 60121
Nashville, TN 37206-0121
Phone: 615.933.8230
Fax: 615.658.9999
Email: kevin.teets@kevinteetslaw.com
Re: NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE LAWSUIT IF VOLUNTEER HIGH SCHOOL
CONTINUES TO INFRINGE ON STUDENTS’ SPEECH AND ASSEMBLY
RIGHTS
Pages: Cover Page and Three Additional Pages
Message: Please find the attached letter
April 4th, 2019

Kevin W. Teets Jr.

Law Offices of Kevin Teets
P.O. Box 60121
Nashville, TN 37206-0121

Mr. Bobby Wines, Principal

Volunteer High School
1050 Volunteer St.
Church Hill, TN 37642
Sent via fax

RE: NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE LAWSUIT IF VOLUNTEER HIGH SCHOOL

CONTINUES TO INFRINGE ON STUDENTS’ SPEECH AND ASSEMBLY RIGHTS

Dear Principal Wines,

My office has been retained by Mr. Thomas Flack, a student at Volunteer High School, to ensure
that his rights and those of other students to assemble and communicate freely are recognized in
a manner consistent with state and federal laws and thus free from censorship from the
administration at Volunteer High School or the Hawkins County Board of Education.

As you are well aware, Mr. Flack has followed the proper procedures in attempting to form an
organization at Volunteer High School called SAACT, which stands for Students Against Animal
Cruelty and Testing. Mr. Flack desires to form this animal rights-based organization at his high
school because he wants to assemble with his high school peers for the common purpose of
educating the campus and community on topics such as animal cruelty and to engage students in
volunteering and service learning opportunities that will help reduce animal cruelty and provide
healthy environments for animals.

Mr. Flack has reached this decision to start SAACT at Volunteer High School because he has
witnessed firsthand the harms caused to animals who are neglected, malnourished, abused and
not given the care and environment needed for their safety. He knows firsthand what it feels like
to be able to make a difference and save an animal from a dangerous environment and he wants
other students at his high school to be able to organize and assemble with him to do more on
campus and in the community to promote proper and responsible pet ownership while working to
lower the number of animals that are subjected to inhumane and abusive environments.
Respectfully, Mr. Wines, it appears to me that Mr. Flack is exhibiting the characteristics, drive
and passions that most schools and principals would be rewarding and recognizing. Is this not the
very type of civic engagement and entrepreneurial spirit that we want all students to have so that
they can become leaders of tomorrow? What message does it send to youth when their
enthusiasms and passions to make the world a better place are met with decisions from adults in
charge, like yourself, who choose to stifle their creative energies rather than support them?

Despite having prepared the necessary documents and having two faculty members agree to be
advisors for the organization, it appears that you have told Mr. Flack more than one occasion that
you are not approving his request to begin the organization, SAACT, at Volunteer High School.
What is even more troubling and disheartening to me is that you even told Mr. Flack during a
meeting with him that you threw the letters of support he received from an animal rights
organization in the trash—an act that perhaps shows your personal feelings towards
organizations that advocate on behalf of animals. Regardless, I think it is fair to say that this
behavior is unbecoming of someone in your position as a principal who should encourage, rather
than extinguish, the dreams of students desiring to make their community better.

I am writing you today to inform you that my client is not giving up on his mission of starting
SAACT at his high school. He is organizing with other students including the Student
Government Association and I would like to make a formal demand to you, Volunteer High
School and the Hawkins County School District to reconsider your decision to infringe on the
rights of these students.

On behalf of Mr. Flack and other similarly situated students at Volunteer High School, my
office will be filling a lawsuit against you, Volunteer High School and the Hawkins County
School District if the students’ plans to organize as an extracurricular club at Volunteer
High School is not approved within 10 business days from the date of this letter.

As recognized in the landmark United States Supreme Court Decision, Tinker v. Des Moines, the
Courts of our country have made clear:

“In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School
officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students… are possessed
of fundamental rights with the State must respect… They may not be confined to the
expression of those sentiments that are officially approved. See Tinker v. Des Moines,
369 U.S. 503 (1969).

The Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Tennessee recognize that as
Americans and Tennesseans all citizens have certain rights protecting speech and assembly. . See
U.S. Const. amend I; See also Tenn Const. Article I §19, 23. As noted in the Tinker decision,
students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the
schoolhouse gate.” See Tinker v. Des Moines, 369 U.S 503 (1969).

The rights of these students to assemble and form an extracurricular organization such as
SAACT is also guaranteed under federal law thanks to the United States Congress passing the
Equal Access Act in 1984 which compels federally funded secondary schools to provide equal
access to extracurricular student clubs. See U.S.C. § 4071. This Congressional Act was
challenged before the United States Supreme Court in 1990 and the Supreme Court held that the
Act was in fact constitutional and that school officials cannot deny students the opportunity to
form an extracurricular club or organization on the basis of religious, political, philosophical or
other content of the speech, so long as the organization would be voluntary and student-initiated
and that it does not interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities. See Board of
Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226 (1990).

It is my sincere hope, Mr. Wines, that you reconsider your previous actions to deny SAACT at
Volunteer High School and that you instead welcome the opportunity for your students to
combine their passions and their first amendment rights in a meaningful way to engage at their
high school campus and community.

If within 10 business days my client’s desire to form an organization at Volunteer High School is
not approved, we will file suit and seek an injunction against you as their principal, legal
damages, attorneys fees and all other appropriate remedies available under the law.

As this communication is an official legal demand, you should seek the consultation of legal
counsel to appropriately represent your rights and interests. If you are presently represented by
legal counsel, please provide me with the name and contact information of your attorney or
request that they communicate the same to me so that I may continue communications with your
attorney.

Please understand that I am not able to answer any questions or provide you with any legal
representation on this matter. My job is to ensure that my client’s rights are upheld and protected,
and it is my hope that we may reach a solution that approves SAACT at Volunteer High School
rather than litigating this matter in open court.

Very Truly Yours,

Kevin W. Teets Jr.

Law Offices of Kevin Teets
P.O. Box 60121
Nashville, TN 37206-0121
Phone: 615.933.8230
Fax: 615.658.9999
Email: kevin.teets@kevinteetslaw.com

Copies to:

Matt Hixson, Director of Schools

Chris Christian, 2nd District & Board Chairman
Hawkins County School District Offices