Ocala – The fight in court whether to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance at Carver Middle School will stretch out a little longer.
The American Civil Liberties Union – who is representing a group of students who want to form a GSA at CMS – has received a two-week extension on their filings, originally due March 18.
That means their filing is due April 1, and the defendant’s deadline is pushed to April 15.
The defendant in the case is Lake County School Board, who have stonewalled on allowing the students to establish a GSA at Carver Middle School off and on for years.
The filings come after a two-day trial at the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Florida in Ocala on March 2 and 3. U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges is not expected to rule until after filings from all parties have been submitted.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed the lawsuit on behalf of Hannah Faughnan, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Carver Middle, plus several other students, against the Lake County School Board in December 2013. They are suing on counts of equal access and First Amendment Rights.
This is the second lawsuit over a GSA at Carver Middle School. In November of 2012, then-14-year-old Bayli Silberstein requested permission to start a GSA at Carver Middle. After months of legal wrangling and school board meeting debates, a judge granted Silberstein permission to form the club for the remainder of her eighth grade year, which ended in the summer of 2013. That settlement has expired, Bayli has moved onto high school and now, the GSA no longer meets at Carver Middle School. The club was not approved when Faughnan reapplied, and she wasn’t given a reason as to how to improve upon her application.
