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“If a police station or police department isn’t collecting this information, there is no way to track if they do have problems and if there are people complaining,” said Lauren Bonds, the interim Executive Director and Legal Director of the Kansas ACLU.

The settlement has been signed by School Board President Brad Stratton and the students’ representatives. But it must be finalized by a judge before the district or the ACLU will comment on the terms.

"It's particularly concerning given the fact that there was no reason to escalate the situation in the first place," Bonds said. "A number of federal circuits have found that flipping off a police officer is protected speech. Asking to see their supervisor shouldn't result in you getting shot."

The ACLU of Kansas said in a news release that it was a case of “moving while black” and that the organization asked Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt to investigate the matter or refer the group’s complaint to the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training.

Bonds said she was optimistic about the people appointed to the commission, and its potential to change the state’s criminal justice system on many levels, including probation, diversion, mental health and prisons.

The ACLU of Kansas announced in a press release Tuesday that it had reached a settlement agreement with the district. But because the plaintiffs in the case are minors, the settlement is not final until is it approved by a judge.

“We hope future election officials will invest this money in making it easier to vote rather than defending decisions that disenfranchise their constituents,” said Lauren Bonds, interim executive director for the ACLU of Kansas.

Last year, the polling location was changed to the community room at the Kansas City, Kansas South Patrol police station. Some voters in the district expressed their concern that casting their votes at a police station was intimidating to some voters and kept others from turning out to vote.

“It’s the fact that this is a government entity organization and they’ve created a space that’s explicitly for the public to give feedback to public officials... Any time when you’re closing a public forum or limiting speech within a public forum, there’s going to be implications there," Bonds said.