The principal of Longmont’s Twin Peaks Charter Academy is seeking donations for a legal war chest after he blocked the graduation valedictorian from announcing he is gay — and then outing the student to his parents.
BJ Buchmann, the principal, has been under fire for his actions and is seeking $50,000 from the school’s parent community for legal fees and costs.
But neither the family of the student nor gay rights ad vocacy groups say they intend to sue.
The family of Evan Young, 18, said it has no interest in pursuing legal action. “No, we would never go there,” Evan’s father, Don Young, said last week.
Out Boulder and One Colorado, the two local advocacy organizations most closely involved in supporting Young, have also stated no plans to file lawsuits.
Still, Buchmann on Friday sent a letter to school parents saying, “as a school, we are incurring non-budgeted costs associated with the recent graduation controversy. We are asking your support of Twin Peaks Charter Academy by helping us cover legal and other costs.”
Twin Peaks has hired Denver attorney Barry Arrington to represent the school and look into the case.
The controversy arose out of accusations that the rights of valedictorian Young were neither preserved nor protected when Buchmann rejected Young’s proposed speech and then called the student’s father to discuss the matter, and in doing so, told him his son is gay.
Federal agents searched a Frontier Airlines flight at Denver International Airport Saturday night in response to a possible security threat.
Shortly before Flight 552 arrived in Denver from San Diego at 8:45 p.m., someone reported a possible security threat, Heath Montgomery, DIA spokesman, said Sunday.
The flight was parked in a remote part of the airport while emergency responders searched the plane, Montgomery said.
“The airport provided busses for passengers who were deplaned and brought back to the terminal,” Montgomery said.
The plane was held on a taxiway for several hours before it was brought back to a gate.
Montgomery referred questions about the nature of the threat to the FBI and Transportation Security Administration.
Representatives of both agencies said they had no information.
No one was hurt, and airport operations were unaffected.
