Graduates' actions bring consequences

SANDPOINT — Three Sandpoint High School graduates are being disciplined for inappropriate conduct during commencement ceremonies earlier this month.

One of the graduates is facing a misdemeanor battery charge and Lake Pend Oreille School District officials say new policies are being considered to dissuade inappropriate antics on the dais.

“I think it needs to be a celebration for everyone who’s there. Two hundred and seventy students took it seriously,” Principal Becky Kiebert told the school board on June 23.

School district officials decline to identify the three students who acted inappropriately, although video footage of the 102nd commencement ceremony on June 6 makes it clear who they are.

Less than 90 minutes into the ceremony, Mike Martin Hewitt walks up to receive his diploma, reaches to hug Kiebert and appears to try and kiss her. Kiebert reacts and swats Hewitt on the left arm as he moves down the stage to shake hands with district officials.

Hewitt, 18, was investigated for battery and the matter was forwarded to city Prosecutor Lori Meulenberg, according to Sandpoint Police Chief Mark Lockwood. Meulenberg said on Monday that she was looking into the case, but was unable to say whether a charging decision had been made.

A battery charge can result when one person subjects another to unwanted physical contact.

About 15 minutes after Hewitt’s episode, Tanner Hayden French approaches Kiebert as if to hug her, but instead attempts to dance suggestively with her. As the ceremony approaches the two-hour mark, Jordan Daniel Hammack takes the dais and shakes hands with Kiebert. Hammack then reaches up under his gown and pulls out what appear to be underwear, displays them to the audience and gives them to Kiebert.

The trio’s diplomas were withheld pending completion of their respective punishments.

Kiebert told the school board she opted to seek a charge against Hewitt because of prior problems involving him. French was ordered to do work on school grounds because there have been no prior incidents with him, Kiebert said. Hammack, meanwhile, was required to watch a video on sexual harassment in the workplace and make a public apology.

Kiebert said she approached Hammack’s punishment as a workplace issue so he understands the expectations in the working world.

School board members did not comment when Kiebert briefed them on the situation.

District officials are contemplating new policies and procedures for future graduation ceremonies, such as requiring students to sign a statement promising good behavior when they receive their diplomas. A school resource officer could also be posted at the takeoff point for graduates to walk up and receive their diplomas.

n Staff writer Marlisa Keyes contributed to this report.