ANAHEIM : Student Loses Bid to Re-Enter School

A 16-year-old Anaheim Hills boy who was forced to leave Canyon High School for distributing an underground newspaper was denied a chance Tuesday to return to school while awaiting trial next month on a lawsuit challenging his “involuntary transfer.”

Orange County Superior Court Judge Dennis S. Choate refused to grant an order allowing 12th-grader Raihan Kadri to re-enroll at Canyon High. Instead, Kadri, who was scheduled to graduate in June, must now find another school, said his father, Dr. Zain Kadri, a plastic surgeon.

Choate said the case raises critical issues regarding the First and 14th Amendments. However, he disagreed with claims made by Kadri’s attorney, Jack A. Fleischli of Irvine, that the boy would suffer “irreparable harm” to his academic progress if he were to attend another school so late in the year.

Last month, Kadri, an honor student, created and distributed 400 copies of “The Exploited,” a six-page newspaper that school administrators said made “obscene” and “defamatory” remarks about school employees.

Kadri was suspended for three days for “distribution and possession of a slanderous publication” and later forced to transfer after a disciplinary board ruled that his presence on campus would “disrupt the educational process,” a district spokeswoman said.

Kadri was told he could transfer to Orange High. Instead, he filed suit against the Orange Unified School District in an effort to get back to Canyon High. He has not attended school since.

Canyon High Principal Ralph Jameson said the newspaper launched “slanderous and obscene” attacks against five teachers and administrators. One cartoon depicts writing on a bathroom wall about a teacher’s sexuality. In another case, a teacher’s weight was made fun of and a male teacher was referred to as a woman.

In a written apology in which he quoted Henry David Thoreau, Kadri said he “never tried to cause problems or encourage bad things.” His reason for creating the newspaper, he said, was to elevate the “repressed” and “convoluted” minds at the school by expressing new ideas.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Fleischli told the judge that the “continuity” of his client’s education would be disrupted. He said Kadri is enrolled in four advanced placement courses and two special international programs offered only at Canyon.

To be away from his teachers would jeopardize Kadri’s final exam performance in two months, Fleischli argued.

But the judge said high school students transfer every day for various reasons, and though it might be inconvenient, a transfer does not mean his education will be ruined.

In April, Choate will hear evidence to determine if Kadri should be permanently barred from Canyon High.