WALKER, La. — UPDATE: The principal of Walker High has asked for a "leave of absence" for the remainder of the school year, according to our partners at The Advocate.
A Louisiana high school principal has apologized and said he has taken back the severe penalties he had handed out to an honor student who was seen on a video dancing in a manner the principal deemed inappropriate.
However, the student in question, Kaylee Timonet, and her mother Rachel, seem to be questioning much of the apology and the ability to make things right.
The dancing in question seemed to show Kaylee twerking with another female student at an off-campus after-party overseen by her mother following Walker High’s homecoming. According to several reports, the video was posted by the DJ working that night to social media to promote their work.
A national outcry followed after Kaylee, an honor student and the Student Government Association president at Walker in Livingston Parish, was stripped of her position and Principal Jason St. Pierre said he would not endorse her for a prestigious scholarship. Her mother said he told Kaylee that she wasn't living in the Lord's way.
Sunday, St. Pierre issued a statement apologizing and saying he was reinstating both her position with the Student Government Association and his endorsement of her scholarship application.
“First, let me say that I have apologized to the Timonets and I am hopeful that my scheduled meeting with Kaylee’s mom will rectify this situation and allow Kaylee to enjoy the remainder of her senior year at Walker High School,” said St. Pierre in the statement that has been shared hundreds of times on social media.
However, the apology and statement were not warmly received by the Timonets.
Rachel Timonet said she was advised by her lawyer not to accept the meeting in a statement shared on a friend’s web page and video posted on video posted on YouTube's Unfiltered with Kiran Chawla page.
Timonet said the scholarship deadline passed last week and that the damage to her daughter was already done. She also said that despite what the statement from St. Pierre says, the subject of her daughter’s beliefs and Bible verses were brought up by St. Pierre and were not part of a mutual discussion.
“Now, with someone forcing him to do something, an apology being enforced it’s too late,” she said.
It started with a post-homecoming dance party
Last week Rachel Timonet told The Advocate and several other news organizations that Kaylee was supposed to be receiving St. Pierre’s endorsement for a prestigious scholarship due to her high grade point average and other achievements.
Rachel Timonet said Kaylee was called to the principal’s office on Tuesday and she assumed that it was to complete the endorsement for her scholarship. Instead, her mother said Kaylee was told she was being stripped of her president role and that no recommendation would be forthcoming for a scholarship.
She said her daughter was devastated.
“They said they didn’t want her representing Walker High School. She was totally shocked,” Timonet told The Advocate. “He told her she wasn’t living in the Lord’s way and questioned who her friends were and if they followed the Lord. She said she didn’t know how to answer that and they said it’s a yes or no question. Meanwhile, she’s sobbing.”
Rachel Timonet questioned why a public school was getting involved in religion. Several students started a “Let Her Dance” campaign and some people invoked the movie Footloose about a community that outlawed modern dancing due to religious beliefs.
The incident received national attention on several social media outlets with influencers.
St. Pierre said he changed his mind after having time to “consider my actions.”
“During my conversation with Kaylee regarding the dance party, the subject of religious beliefs was broached by Kaylee and myself. While that conversation was meant with the best intentions, I do understand it is not my responsibility to determine what students’ or others’ religious beliefs may be – that should be the responsibility of the individual.”
The Timonets have strongly denied that the subject of religion was "broached by Kaylee" and the principal, saying that he alone brought up the issue.