MARION, Ark. – The Marion School District confirms four Marion High School seniors will walk at graduation after a profanity-laced Facebook post surfaced last week.
The seniors claim they were initially told they wouldn’t be allowed to walk because of the post, which features the four seniors and a junior posing with middle fingers in a school hallway.
The post was captioned in part, “I’m like f*** school n f*** my teachers too.”
“I throw my middle fingers up a lot,” said Cameron Brown, the sole junior in the photo.
“I don’t feel like this is that bad. It was just a in-the-moment picture,” he added.
Janarrious Selvy, who made the Facebook post, said he was simply quoting a song.
“It was just a song. I was just referring to a song, but they took it the wrong way, so it is what it is,” said Selvy.
Selvy said the district told him he wouldn’t be able to walk at graduation, but the district struck a different tone Tuesday.
A spokeswoman told WREG the seniors would be able to walk after their parents met with school administrators Monday.
But Selvy said he was told he had to post an apology on Facebook, which he did, as well as attend Saturday school.
“Which, I think, is like three Saturdays and they’re gonna have to do cleaning,” said Selvy’s aunt Patricia Jackson.
Jackson said she thinks the punishment is harsh since the post never mentioned Marion High School or the Marion School District by name and that her nephew never sent it to school administrators.
“I feel that’s invasion of privacy for whoever went and took it to them, going on their Facebook,” she said.
Selvy said he’s just happy he’s going to be able to graduate.
The Marion School District sent WREG the following prepared statement:
“Graduating from high school is a pivotal milestone in a student’s life. It is our mission to ensure an equitable outcome for all students and graduates. The students in question are no different. They have earned the right to graduate and will. We’re confident in our ability as educators that these bright, young men have been afforded a quality education that has prepared them for a competitive career. It is our hope that they, along with all of our students, will make us proud.”