The principal of Liberty High School in Hillsboro has agreed to apologize to a student who was told to go home or cover up his "Donald J. Trump Border Wall Construction Co.'' shirt in January. 
 
 Addison Barnes, an 18-year-old senior, was suspended for wearing the shirt backing Trump's immigration and Homeland Security policies. He then sued the high school, the principal and the Hillsboro School District, arguing they violated his First Amendment rights. 
 
 In late May, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, essentially barring the school for the remainder of the school year from enforcing its earlier decision prohibiting Barnes from wearing the shirt. 
 
 On Tuesday, Barnes' lawyers announced they reached a settlement with the district: Principal Greg Timmons will issue a letter of apology and the district will pay $25,000 for Barnes' attorney fees. 
 
 "I brought this case to stand up for myself and other students who might be afraid to express their right-of-center views,'' Barnes said in a statement. "Everyone knows that if a student wears an anti-Trump shirt to school, the teachers won't think twice about it. But when I wore a pro-Trump shirt, I got suspended. That's not right.'' 
 
 Barnes' lawyers said the message on the shirt wasn't the point of the case. High school students have the right to express their political views, they said. 
 
 "We brought the case to police the thought police,'' attorney Brad Benbrook said. 
 
 School district officials said in a statement that courts have ruled differently in similar cases, leaving students' First Amendment rights in school a "gray area." They said they decided to settle the T-shirt case "given the cost and disruption of litigation." 
 
 The principal's letter was brief, apologized for Barnes' initial suspension and wished him well in the future, they said. 
 
 "As an educational institution," the statement said, "Hillsboro School District and each of our schools supports, encourages, and celebrates free speech and reasoned debate. We also have a responsibility to ensure that each of our students feels welcome and safe in our schools so they can effectively learn. This was an instance where we were challenged to do both simultaneously and the decision landed on the side of ensuring student safety. Moving forward, we will continue to use professional discretion to meet both objectives and will actively seek ways to turn sensitive situations into learning opportunities." 
 
 School officials had defended their actions in court, saying the shirt would contribute to a "hostile learning environment'' and would make students feel insecure in school, noting that about 33 percent of the high school's students are of Hispanic descent. They also said the school had been the site of recent student walkouts and sit-ins to protest Trump's immigration policies. 
 
 The district described increased racial tensions arising from racially charged language around immigration, school officials said. 
 
 But U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman found the school district couldn't justify its censorship. The judge said he balanced constitutionally protected speech with the orderly running of a school. 
 
 The school district is entitled to be concerned about the response of other students to the T-shirt, the judge said. But the "thin" court record offered little support for the district's argument that the shirt could "substantially disrupt'' the school, he said. 
 
 -- Maxine Bernstein 
 
 mbernstein@oregonian.com 
 
 503-221-8212 
 
 @maxoregonian ||||| $25K and an apology: Hillsboro SD settles suit with teen Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Ore. (KOIN) [ + - ] 
 
 PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- A former Liberty High School student settled a lawsuit with the Hillsboro School District for $25,000 on Tuesday, months after he said his First Amendment rights were violated when he was removed from class for wearing a t-shirt printed with the words “Donald J. Trump Border Wall Construction Co." 
 
 Addison Barnes, a senior at the time, filed a lawsuit against the school district on May 21. Along with the financial terms of the settlement, the school district also has to pay his attorney fees and send an apology letter written by school Principal Greg Timmons. 
 
 “Addison Barnes should be commended for his courage," said Brad Benbrook, one of Barnes' attorneys, in a statement. "The message on his shirt wasn’t the point of this case. We brought the case to police the thought police. The First Amendment does not allow what is going on in too many schools today.” Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Ore. (KOIN) 
 
 Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Ore. (KOIN) 
 
 KOIN 6 News has reached out to the Hillsboro School District for comment. A spokeswoman said they're reviewing the press release from Barnes' attorneys and are working on a response. 
 
 Originally, when Barnes was asked during his "People and Politics" class to cover up his shirt, he obliged and returned to class. Then, citing his First Amendment rights, he uncovered the t-shirt before he was given two options: cover up or go home. Barnes went home, which was treated as a suspension. 
 
 A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order just over a week after the lawsuit, allowing Barnes to wear the shirt at school for the rest of the school year. 
 
 In a statement on Tuesday, Barnes said he filed the lawsuit to "stand up for myself and other students who might be afraid to express their right-of-center views." 
 
 "Everyone knows that if a student wears an anti-Trump shirt to school, the teachers won’t think twice about it. But when I wore a pro-Trump shirt, I got suspended," he said. "That’s not right.” ||||| A Waynesville High School student sued in federal court Tuesday after school officials refused to let him wear a T-shirt with the slogan “Jesus Is Not A Homophobe.” 
 
 Maverick Couch wants to wear the shirt in his Warren County school on April 20 to show support for the Day of Silence, a national event that draws attention to the silencing of gay and lesbian students through bullying. 
 
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 Couch’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, immediately became part of a decades-long fight over how to balance the First Amendment rights of students and the rights of school administrators to enforce rules and impose discipline. 
 
 Couch, 17, said he tried to wear the shirt last spring for the Day of Silence and on several other occasions, but school Principal Randy Gebhardt repeatedly rejected his request. 
 
 Couch said he was told the shirt was not permitted because it was “indecent and sexual in nature.” 
 
 The shirt bears the image of a fish, similar to the religious symbol commonly used by Christians, painted in rainbow colors. The words “Jesus Is Not A Homophobe” appear below the fish. 
 
 “I don’t think the shirt is sexual at all. I don’t know how they can say that,” Couch said. “I don’t think it’s indecent.” 
 
 Gebhardt could not be reached Tuesday, but the school district’s superintendent, Pat Dubbs, said he believes Gebhardt considered the shirt a distraction and told Couch to turn it inside out when he wore it to school last year. He said the principal has done that on other occasions when students show up wearing potentially distracting or provocative shirts to school. 
 
 “We’re in the business of education and our main concern is maintaining an environment that is conducive to education,” Dubbs said. “We want our kids to be able to come to school and learn.” 
 
 He would not comment on the lawsuit, other than to say it “really caught us off guard.” 
 
 Couch’s attorney, Christopher Clark, said Couch tried for months to resolve the dispute without going to court, but school officials wouldn’t budge. 
 
 Clark said administrators initially said the shirt was disruptive and later that it was too religious. He said they now claim it violates rules prohibiting clothing that is indecent or sexual in nature. 
 
 “I think that borders on the absurd,” Clark said. “I do think what the school is doing is bullying. They’re trying to shame him into not wearing this shirt.” 
 
 Couch said he has been the victim of teasing and name-calling at school, but he said any bullying he’s experienced has never become physical. He said he wants to wear the shirt to show support for other gay students who do suffer from severe bullying. 
 
 Clark said students in other schools across the country wear T-shirts with a variety of images on the Day of Silence, and most have not run into problems. 
 
 Couch is asking U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett to order the school to allow him to wear the shirt. He also is seeking attorney fees and unspecified damages, which Clark describes as “nominal.” 
 
 The dispute joins a long list of court battles over the rights of students to express themselves in school. The U.S. Supreme Court has struggled to balance the rights of students and administrators since at least the 1960s, when the justices ruled students could wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. 
 
 In that case, the justices famously declared that students do not “shed their constitutional rights when they enter the schoolhouse door.” 
 
 Students’ rights are not absolute, however, and the courts have held they do not have the same expansive speech rights as the rest of society. School administrators are permitted to bar speech that seriously disrupts the school and to censor materials in school newspapers on some sensitive subjects, such as sex and pregnancy. 
 
 Clark said he is unaware of any disruption caused by Couch’s shirt, other than complaints from two students. Couch said other students routinely wear religious-oriented shirts that include Bible verses or other statements.
– An 18-year-old Oregon student who was forced out of class for refusing to cover up his pro-Trump T-shirt won't end up getting the last word in the matter—which is the outcome he wanted. The last word will go to the principal of Liberty High School in Hillsboro, who agreed to issue a letter of apology as part of a settlement in the case. Addison Barnes sued the school, Principal Greg Timmons, and the Hillsboro School District, accusing them of violating his First Amendment rights. KOIN reports that Barnes initially covered up the "Donald J. Trump Border Wall Construction Co.'' he wore to school in January, but then decided to reverse course. He was then told to cover it again or go home, and he chose the latter option, which the school recorded as a suspension. The Oregonian reports a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order two months ago that prevented the school from banning the shirt for the remainder of the school year, with the judge saying the censorship wasn't legally justified. The school had argued the shirt could fuel a "hostile learning environment." The settlement, announced Tuesday, will also see the district pay $25,000 to cover Barnes' legal fees. Willamette Week has a statement from Barnes, who has since graduated from the school: "Everyone knows that if a student wears an anti-Trump shirt to school, the teachers won't think twice about it. But when I wore a pro-Trump shirt, I got suspended. That's not right."