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SALT LAKE CITY — An Oklahoma valedictorian is in hot water for using a swear word in her high school graduation speech.
Kaitlin Nootbaar graduated in May with a 4.0 grade point average from Prague High School, about 60 miles east of Oklahoma City. During her speech, she deviated from her pre-approved script by two letters, according to her father.
"Her quote was, ‘When she first started school she wanted to be a nurse, then a veterinarian and now that she was getting closer to graduation, people would ask her, what do you want to do and she said how the hell do I know? I've changed my mind so many times,'" David Nootbaar told local channel KFOR.
He said Kaitlin took inspiration from the movie "Eclipse: The Twilight Saga," during which a character uses a similar phrase during a graduation scene.
Kaitlin had written "heck" in the draft she submitted to school officials for approval.
The audience laughed, according to Nootbaar, and she finished her speech to warm applause. But when she went to pick up her diploma, the principal reportedly told he she could not have it until she issued a written letter of apology, which Kaitlin has declined to do.
"She said 'Dad, if I write them a letter it's not going to be a nice letter. It's not going to be an apology,' " Nootbaar told NBC New York.
She said, 'Dad, if I write them a letter it's not going to be a nice letter. It's not going to be an apology.'
–David Nootbaar
Superintendent Rick Martin called Kaitlin an outstanding student, but said she had acted inappropriately.
"Unfortunately, she did not present the speech as written and used language that was inappropriate for a graduation exercise," Martin said Monday in a statement.
Martin said he has not been contacted by the family, but Nootbaar said he has tried to contact the superintendent, to no avail.
Kaitlin Nootbaar plans to attend Southwestern Oklahoma State University on a full scholarship this fall and will major in biology, according to her father. The university had previously accepted her transcript as proof of graduation.
