I. STATEMENT OF POLICY
Freedom of expression and press freedom are fundamental values
in a democratic society. The mission of any institution committed to preparing
productive citizens must include teaching students these values, both by
lesson and by example.
As determined by the courts, student exercise of freedom of expression
and press freedom is protected by both state and federal law, especially
by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Accordingly,
school officials are responsible for encouraging and ensuring freedom of
expression and press freedom for all students.
It is the policy of the ____________________________ Board of
Education that (newspaper), (yearbook), (literary magazine) and (electronic
or on-line media), the official, school-sponsored student media of ______________________ High School have been established as forums for student expression and as voices in the uninhibited, robust, free and open discussion of issues.
Each medium should provide a full opportunity for students to inquire,
question and exchange ideas. Content should reflect all areas of student
interest, including topics about which there may be dissent or controversy.
It is the policy of the __________________________ Board of Education
that student journalists shall have the right to determine the content
of student media. Accordingly, the following guidelines relate only to
establishing grounds for disciplinary actions subsequent to publication.
II. OFFICIAL STUDENT MEDIA
A. Responsibilities of Student Journalists
Students who work on official, school-sponsored student publications
or electronic media determine the content of their respective publications
and are responsible for that content. These students should:
l. Determine the content of the student media;
2. Strive to produce media based upon professional standards of
accuracy, objectivity and fairness;
3. Review material to improve sentence structure, grammar, spelling
and punctuation;
4. Check and verify all facts and verify the accuracy of all quotations;
and
5. In the case of editorials or letters to the editor concerning
controversial issues, determine the need for rebuttal comments and opinions
and provide space therefore if appropriate.
B. Unprotected Expression
The following types of student expression will not be protected:
1. Material that is "obscene as to minors." "Obscene as to minors
is defined as material that meets all three of the following requirements:
(a) the average person, applying contemporary community standards,
would find that the publication, taken as a whole, appeals to a minor's
prurient interest in sex; and
(b) the publication depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way,
sexual conduct such as ultimate sexual acts (normal or perverted), masturbation
and lewd exhibition of the genitals; and;
(c) the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political
or scientific value.
Indecent or vulgar language is not obscene.
[Note: Most states have statutes defining what is "obscene as to minors."
If such a statute is in force in your state, it should be substituted in
place of section II(B)(1).]
2. Libelous material. Libelous statements are provably false and
unprivileged statements of fact that do demonstrated injury to an individual's
or business's reputation in the community. If the allegedly libeled party
is a "public figure" or "public official" as defined below, then school
officials must show that the false statement was published "with actual
malice," i.e., that the student journalists knew that the statement was
false or that they published it with reckless disregard for the truth ?
without trying to verify the truthfulness of the statement.
(a) A public official is a person who holds an elected or appointed
public office and exercises a significant amount of governmental authority.
(b) A public figure is a person who either has sought the public's
attention or is well known because of personal achievements or actions.
(c) School employees will be considered public officials or public
figures in relationship to articles concerning their school-related activities.
(d) When an allegedly libelous statement concerns an individual who
is not a public official or a public figure, school officials must show
that the false statement was published willfully or negligently, i.e.,
the student journalist who wrote or published the statement has failed
to exercise reasonably prudent care.
(e) Students are free to express opinions. Specifically, a student
may criticize school policy or the performance of teachers, administrators,
school officials and other school employees.
3. Material that will cause "a material and substantial disruption
of school activities."
(a) Disruption is defined as student rioting, unlawful seizures of
property, destruction of property, or substantial student participation
in a school boycott, sit-in, walk-out or other related form of activity.
Material such as racial, religious or ethnic slurs, however distasteful,
is not in and of itself disruptive under these guidelines. Threats of violence
are not materially disruptive without some act in furtherance of that threat
or a reasonable belief and expectation that the author of the threat has
the capability and intent of carrying through on that threat in a manner
that does not allow acts other than suppression of speech to mitigate the
threat in a timely manner. Material that stimulates heated discussion or
debate does not constitute the type of disruption prohibited.
(b) For student media to be considered disruptive, specific facts must
exist upon which one could reasonably forecast that a likelihood of immediate,
substantial material disruption to normal school activity would occur if
the material were further distributed or has occurred as a result of the
material's distribution or dissemination. Mere undifferentiated fear or
apprehension of disturbance is not enough; school administrators must be
able affirmatively to show substantial facts that reasonably support a
forecast of likely disruption.
(c) In determining whether student media is disruptive, consideration
must be given to the context of the distribution as well as the content
of the material. In this regard, consideration should be given to past
experience in the school with similar material, past experience in the
school in dealing with and supervising the students in the school, current
events influencing student attitudes and behavior and whether there have
been any instances of actual or threatened disruption prior to or contemporaneously
with the dissemination of the student publication in question.
(d) School officials must protect advocates of unpopular viewpoints.
(e) "School activity" means educational student activity sponsored
by the school and includes, by way of example and not by way of limitation,
classroom work, official assemblies and other similar gatherings, school
athletic contests, band concerts, school plays and scheduled in-school
lunch periods.
C. Legal Advice
1. If, in the opinion of a student editor, student editorial staff
or faculty adviser, material proposed for publication may be "obscene,"
"libelous" or would cause an "immediate, material and substantial disruption
of school activities," the legal opinion of a practicing attorney should
be sought. The services of the attorney for the local newspaper or the
free legal services of the Student Press Law Center (703/807-1904) are
recommended.
2. Any legal fees charged in connection with the consultation
will be paid by the board of education.
3. The final decision of whether the material is to be published
will be left to the student editor or student editorial staff.
D. Protected Speech
1. School officials cannot:
a. Ban student expression solely because it is controversial, takes
extreme, "fringe" or minority opinions, or is distasteful, unpopular or
unpleasant;
b. Ban the publication or distribution of material relating to sexual
issues including, but not limited to, virginity, birth control and sexually-transmitted
diseases (including AIDS);
c. Censor or punish the occasional use of indecent, vulgar or so called
"four-letter" words in student publications;
d. Prohibit criticism of the policies, practices or performance of
teachers, school officials, the school itself or of any public officials;
e. Cut off funds to official student media because of disagreement
over editorial policy;
f. Ban student expression that merely advocates illegal conduct without
proving that such speech is directed toward and will actually cause imminent
unlawful action.
g. Ban the publication or distribution by students of material written
by non-students;
h. Prohibit the endorsement of candidates for student office or for
public office at any level.
2. Commercial Speech
Advertising is constitutionally protected expression. Student
media may accept advertising. Acceptance or rejection of advertising is
within the purview of the publication staff, which may accept any ads except
those for products or services that are illegal for all students. Ads for
political candidates and ballot issues may be accepted; however publication
staffs are encouraged to solicit ads from all sides on such issues.
E. On-Line Student Media and Use of Electronic Information
Resources
1. On-Line Student Media.
On-line media, including Internet Web sites, e-mail, listserves and
Usenet and Bitnet discussion groups, may be used by students like any other
communications media to reach both those within the school and those beyond
it. All official, school-sponsored on-line student publications are entitled
to the same protections and are subject to no greater limitations than
other student media, as described in this policy.
2. Electronic Information Resources
Student journalists may use electronic information resources, including
Internet Web sites, e-mail, listserves and Usenet and Bitnet discussion
groups, to gather news and information, to communicate with other students
and individuals and to ask questions of and consult with sources. School
officials will apply the same criteria used in determining the suitability
of other educational and information resources to attempts to remove or
restrict student media access to on-line and electronic material. Just
as the purchase, availability and use of media materials in a classroom
or library does not indicate endorsement of their contents by school officials,
neither does making electronic information available to students imply
endorsement of that content.
Although faculty advisers to student media are encouraged to help students
develop the intellectual skills needed to evaluate and appropriately use
electronically available information to meet their newsgathering purposes,
advisers are not responsible for approving the on-line resources used or
created by their students.
3. Acceptable Use Policies
The Board recognizes that the technical and networking environment
necessary for on-line communication may require that school officials define
guidelines for student exploration and use of electronic information resources.
The purpose of such guidelines will be to provide for the orderly, efficient
and fair operation of the school's on-line resources. The guidelines may
not be used to unreasonably restrict student use of or communication on
the on-line media.
Such guidelines may address the following issues: file size limits,
password management, system security, data downloading protocol, use of
domain names, use of copyrighted software, access to computer facilities,
computer hacking, computer etiquette and data privacy.
III. ADVISER JOB SECURITY
The student media adviser is not a censor. No person who advises
a student publication will be fired, transferred or removed from the advisership
by reason of his or her refusal to exercise editorial control over student
media or to otherwise suppress the protected free expression of student
journalists.
IV. NON-SCHOOL-SPONSORED MEDIA
A. Non-school-sponsored student media and the students who produce
them are entitled to the protections provided in section II(D) of this
policy. In addition school officials may not ban the distribution of non-school-sponsored
student media on school grounds. However, students who distribute material
describe in section II(B) of this policy may be subject to reasonable discipline
after distribution at school has occurred.
1. School officials may reasonably regulate the time, place and
manner of distribution.
(a) Non-school-sponsored media will have the same rights of distribution
as official student media;
(b) "Distribution" means dissemination of media to students at a time
and place of normal school activity, or immediately prior or subsequent
thereto, by means of handing out free copies, selling or offering copies
for sale, accepting donations for copies of the media or displaying the
media in areas of the school which are generally frequented by students.
2. School officials cannot:
(a) Prohibit the distribution of anonymous literature or other student
media or require that it bear the name of the sponsoring organization or
author;
(b) Ban the distribution of student media because it contains advertising;
(c) Ban the sale of student media; or
(d) Create regulations that discriminate against non-school-sponsored
media or interfere with the effective distribution of sponsored or non-sponsored
media.
B. These regulations do not apply to media independently produced
or obtained and distributed by students off school grounds and without
school resources. Such material is fully protected by the First Amendment
and is not subject to regulation by school authorities. Reference to or
minimal contact with a school will not subject otherwise independent media,
such as an independent, student-produced Web site, to school regulation.
V. PRIOR RESTRAINT
No student media, whether non-school-sponsored or official, will
be reviewed by school administrators prior to distribution or withheld
from distribution. The school assumes no liability for the content of any
student publication, and urges all student journalists to recognize that
with editorial control comes responsibility, including the responsibility
to follow professional journalism standards each school year.
VI. CIRCULATION
These guidelines will be included in the handbook on student rights
and responsibilities and circulated to all students.
