## Facts

- Khurrum Khan, a public high school student, was designated class valedictorian.
- Khan engaged in serious misconduct, including hacking the school computer system to change grades and being indicted for stealing school computers.
- The school district transferred Khan to an alternative education program.
- At the alternative program, Khan accumulated six consecutive unexcused absences.
- The district decided Khan could not participate in the graduation ceremony or deliver the valedictorian address, but he would still receive his diploma and retain valedictorian status.
- The district notified Khan and his parents of the decision and reasons, held two meetings with Khan, and attempted additional meetings that Khan did not attend (though his parents did).
- Khan sued under the Fourteenth Amendment and sought a temporary restraining order to compel graduation participation and the valedictorian speech.

## Issues

1. Whether a student has a constitutionally protected property interest in participating in a graduation ceremony and delivering a valedictorian address.
2. If such an interest exists, whether the district provided constitutionally adequate procedural due process.
3. Whether the standards for a temporary restraining order/preliminary injunction were met, including likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm.

## Decision

- The court held Khan lacked a constitutionally protected property interest in attending graduation or giving the valedictorian speech.
- Because Khan could not show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits, the court denied the requested temporary restraining order.
- The district’s decision to exclude Khan from ceremony participation and the speech remained in effect, while he still could receive a diploma and keep valedictorian status.

## Legal Principles

- Procedural due process protection requires a threshold showing of a protected property or liberty interest; such interests arise from an independent source (commonly state law), not from the Constitution alone.
- The Constitution protects access to public education in certain contexts, but participation in ceremonial or extracurricular activities (including graduation exercises and speaking roles) is generally not a protected property or liberty interest.
- Temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions are extraordinary relief and require, at minimum, a substantial likelihood of success on the merits and a substantial threat of irreparable injury absent relief.
- Even when school discipline implicates a protected interest, minimal due process commonly includes notice of the reasons and an opportunity to respond; the district’s notice and meeting opportunities weighed against finding a due process violation.

## Conclusion

The court denied emergency injunctive relief because exclusion from graduation exercises and a valedictorian address did not implicate a federal constitutional property interest, making Khan’s procedural due process claim unlikely to succeed, particularly where he would still receive his diploma and academic designation.


Khan v. Fort Bend Indep. Sch. Dist., 561 F. Supp. 2d 760 (S.D. Tex. 2008)