Included in this district’s curriculum may be school-sponsored publications or other expressive activities that are designed to impart particular knowledge or skills to the student participants. These publications are not a public forum. School administrators and classroom teachers are entitled to regulate the contents of school publications in any reasonable manner consistent with state and federal law and district policy.
For purposes of this policy, school-sponsored publications are those publications, including but not limited to, school newspapers, yearbooks or material produced in communications, journalism, or other writing classes, which may fairly be characterized as part of the district’s curriculum. School-sponsored publications are supervised by a staff member typically in conjunction with a class that is designed to teach specific skills to students, including but not limited to reporting, writing, editing and understanding responsible journalism.
GUIDELINES
The district recognizes that there are valid and necessary reasons to exercise prepublication editorial control and to impose reasonable restrictions on student speech in school-sponsored publications. Therefore, the following guidelines apply to all school-sponsored student publications:
1. All publications must be reviewed and approved by the building principal or designee prior to distribution. The building principal or designee has the authority to determine the appropriateness of any particular item for publication. Expression in a school-sponsored publication is prohibited when the material:
a. Is obscene;
b. Is libelous or slanderous;
c. Advertises or promotes any product or service not permitted to minors by law;
d. Encourages students to commit illegal acts, violate school rules, or substantially disrupts the orderly operation of school or school activities;
e. Expresses or advocates sexual, racial or religious harassment or violence or prejudice;
f. Invades the privacy rights of others; or
g. Is otherwise contrary to district policy or applicable state or federal law.
2. Expression in a school-sponsored publication is subject to editorial control by the school over the style and content so long as the school’s actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns, including but not limited to assuring that:
a. Participants learn whatever lesson the activity is designed to teach;
b. Readers are not exposed to material that may be inappropriate to their level of maturity;
c. The view of the individual speaker are not erroneously attributed to the school or district;
d. The school is not associated with any position other than neutrality on matters of political controversy;
e. The sponsored student speech cannot reasonably be perceived to advocate conduct otherwise inconsistent with the shared values of a civilized order; or
f. The school or district is not associated with expression that is, for example, ungrammatical, poorly written, inadequately researched, biased or prejudiced, vulgar or profane, or unsuitable for immature audiences.
3. The district has an important interest in avoiding the impression that it has endorsed a viewpoint contrary to its educational mission. Therefore, the building principal or designee has authority to determine whether advertising will be accepted for inclusion in school-sponsored student publications. In exercising this authority, the building principal or designee may exclude certain categories of advertising that may endanger the health and welfare of students, including but not limited to advertising that:
a. Is factually inaccurate;
b. Is defamatory;
c. Is obscene;
d. Expresses or advocates sexual, racial or religious harassment or violence or prejudice;
e. Contains either explicit or implicit sexual content or overtones;
f. Promotes any product or service not permitted to minors by law; or
g. Is of poor production quality.
The building principal or designee may also exclude advertising that may serve to associate the district with any position other than neutrality on matters of political controversy.
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LEGAL REFERENCE:
Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 106 S. Ct. 3159 (1986)
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 108 S. Ct. 562 (1988)
ADOPTED: January 13, 2025
AMENDED: