Good afternoon. The following is a press release from Dr.

Randy Davis, Superintendent of Marshall

Public Schools...

March 31st was to be a day of awareness at Marshall High School regarding transgender students and
others of the LGBTQ community. Unfortunately, it turned into a storm of controversy through social
media and other formal media outlets. The controversy surrounded the removal of a poster display
created by the Marshall High School's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) some time prior to the day of
awareness. On Tuesday, March 31st a statement was released by the Superintendent indicating what
had been reported to him regarding the timing and the reasoning behind the removal of the GSA Club's
poster display. After the Superintendent's investigation concluded this morning Thursday April 2nd
involving all pertinent individuals, the following sequence of events have been verified:

On March 16th, the GSA Club was given access to the display case for their poster regarding the
"Transgender Day of Transparency" scheduled for March 31st. Their poster was on display up until
March 27th.

On March 27th, the staff member responsible for coordinating the use of the display case
informed a student member of the GSA Club their two-weeks were up as of Monday March 30th and
they were required to take down the display to allow for another purpose of the display case. Later that
same day, this staff member was redirected by a building administrator to take down the GSA poster.
The faculty adviser of the GSA had not been contacted about the need to take down the display.

On March 30th when students arrived and throughout the day, the display case had not been
redone for its new purpose, raising questions about why the GSA poster had to come down in the first
place. The fact that a picture of the GSA poster had been posted on Facebook the previous week with
others questioning the appropriateness of the poster on social media, only fueled speculation that the
building administration took down the GSA poster due to complaints from adults.

On March 31st, the initial reports to the Superintendent indicated the GSA poster was removed
on Monday, March 30th, which became evident during the final investigation was indeed not the case.
It is evident that the sequence of events, the evolving dynamics on social media, and the concerns
expressed by our students within the high school, combined to create confusion and therefore a lack of
trust in the original reasons stated for removing the GSA Club's poster from the display case. This is
unfortunate, because it overshadows the incredible work our students and staff have done throughout
the year in raising awareness and fostering a better understanding of diversity and individual
differences. We take great pride in the school's efforts in supporting student rights and equal access,
and we deeply regret how poorly these events were handled in this circumstance. Our students in the
Gay-Straight Alliance did nothing wrong throughout this incident, and we applaud their continuing
commitment to improve our school climate and culture.

Dr. Randy Davis