The community is requesting the principal’s termination following the graduation incident

GREENFIELD, Tenn. – Students are usually the center of attention on this day, but three Greenfield High School students say they believe they were intentionally kept out of the spotlight.

We spoke to one of these three students, Kennedy Lee, who told us that she suffers from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and a functional neurological disorder that causes her to faint when exposed to certain triggers.

Lee claims Greenfield High School Principal Jamie Doster told her it was a safety risk to walk across the stage at graduation, even though a doctor’s note had said she was able to do so.

“I really think it was more about her image. Her image was more important to her than that of her students,” Lee said.

Lee also told us that Doster, along with two other students, allegedly told her to sit in the bleachers instead of on the floor with the rest of the graduating class.

“It was just very embarrassing. I was just emotional the whole time. You know? Why don’t I deserve to be out there,” Lee said.

Lee says she and her family were hesitant to speak out on the matter in the days leading up to her graduation because of an alleged threat from the school’s principal.

“She told us if we didn’t like the way she planned it, we could do it her way or not participate at all,” Lee said.

Lee claims the school has a history of ignoring people with disabilities.

She recalled a time during her first year when she and another student were allegedly treated differently.

“We spent our entire junior year in a closet with our nurse. We didn’t have a classroom to sleep in,” Lee said.

After graduation, one of Lee’s relatives wrote a petition calling for Principal Doster to be removed from her post.

Since then, it has collected more than 1,300 signatures.

We reached out to the Weakley County Board of Education, who said in a statement:

“All Weakley County Schools graduation ceremonies are planned to ensure the safety of all participants. Additionally, maintaining student privacy and confidentiality is a fundamental priority and responsibility of our district. While we respect the public interest, privacy and confidentiality preclude the discussion of personal information about students.”

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