Lewis S. Mills High School

Lewis S. Mills High School is a public high school located in Burlington, Connecticut. It is part of Regional School District #10 serving Harwinton and Burlington, Connecticut. A new science wing was added to the school in November 2006, and a new music wing in spring 2007. It is connected to Har-Bur Middle School. Both LSM and Har-Bur connect to a library, known as "The Learning Center" or "media center". It is equipped with two different floors filled with computers and bookshelves and two different areas to sign out visitor's items. The school has also been equipped with a new auditorium and a new entrance leading to an area that includes other hallways which visitor's can explore. It is a large facility that offers a varied curriculum to students.

Facts:

Lewis S. Mills is the first public high school in Connecticut to offer American Sign Language as an established foreign language, other public high schools have since followed.The S in Lewis S. Mills is for Sprague.

Mission Statement

The mission of Lewis S. Mills High School is to develop responsible, confident citizens who are prepared to function in and contribute to our ever-changing society. Through cooperative efforts of students, staff, parents, and community members, all students are given the opportunity to maximize their growth within a supportive environment. While stimulating intellectual curiosity, the staff will engage students in tasks that encourage creativity, initiative, and problem solving. Students will acquire a common core of skills, knowledge, and ethics that will lead to an appreciation for learning as a life-long process. By maintaining high standards, the staff will actively promote the students’ attainment of excellence.

Controversy

Lewis S. Mills High School is currently embroiled in a civil rights lawsuit brought by Student Avery Doninger against Principal Karissa Niehoff and Superintendent (now retired) Paula Schwartz. In spring 2007 Doninger posted a blog entry criticizing the administration and encouraging students to email or call the school regarding the scheduling of Jamfest (a school event). She also referred to the administration as "douchebags." When the blog was discovered some weeks later by the Superintendent's 36 year old son, the administration banned Doninger from running for a class officer position. Doninger won by write-in, but the write-in votes were not recognized. Doninger lost a hearing for injunctive relief when district court Judge Mark Kravitz ruled that there was not a substantial likelihood that Doninger would win her case against the school and thus declined to grant the injunction.

On May 29th, 2008, a US Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the administration had acted within the bounds of their authority. The court made the ruling not so much because of the "douchebags" comment, but because her encouragement of students to contact the administration could cause a "foreseeable risk of substantial disruption to the work and discipline of the school." She had said on her blog that students could contact the Superintendent "to piss her off more." The court stressed that their decision was not an endorsement of schools regulating off-campus speech. Thomas Gerarde, representing the school district, was quick to assert that "any speech that is likely to come to the attention of administrators on campus, even though it’s off campus, will be subject to discipline if it’s disruptive."

Doninger's case gained national attention earlier after Doninger set up a website to appeal for donations to help with legal fees associated with the cause. The exact limits of students free speech rights in public schools has been a matter of controversy since 1969 when in the ruled that students have some free speech rights in schools. In later cases, such as , and , colloquially known as the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case, the Supreme Court ruled that students in public schools while engaging in actions on campus or otherwise affiliated with the school do not enjoy the complete First Amendment protections that would normally apply to citizens in other circumstances.

Doninger and her mother have said that they will attempt to bring the case to jury trial. She graduated on June 20th, 2008.