Members of the Policy Committee for the Wrangell School District met last Thursday afternoon to discuss various policies for school board consideration. Among several items on the agenda were two policies covering the topics of professional boundaries between staff and students, and freedom of speech amongst the student body.
Board Policy 5141.42, Professional Boundaries of Staff with Students, as it reads, is meant to protect children from inappropriate conduct by staff, volunteers, and other adults in the school system. In short, the policy outlines that all staff must maintain professional boundaries with students, one that is conducive to education, "based upon mutual respect and trust ...." The policy also states that staff may have familial or other pre-existing relationships with some students or their families.
In the event a staff member has a dual relationship with a student, they must use sound professional judgment and avoid any appearance of favoritism or impropriety. These pre-existing relationships should be discussed with a building administrator or supervisor, the policy reads. Private electronic communication with students is prohibited, as well, unless the student is a staff member's own child.
The policy goes on to state that the superintendent or a designee by the superintendent shall organize training around this policy to better help staff understand how to maintain professional boundaries with students. It also reads that any violations observed by another staff member must be reported.
Kim Powell, with the school district, explained that this is a brand new policy for the district to consider. It is not in response to anything that has happened within the district, she said, but has come down from the state level for schools across Alaska to consider.
"This came from AASB," she said. "We don't have a policy at all."
"I'm going to suspect that based on activities in other parts of the state, they have issues with this," added Superintendent Debbe Lancaster. "This is not specific to Wrangell."
Another policy the committee took a look at was in regards to freedom of speech and expression amongst the student body. The board of education respects the right of students to express ideas and opinions, the policy reads, but at the same time they recognize that the right to free speech and expression is limited by the rights of other members of the school district.
"A student's speech may not substantially interfere with the educational process," the policy reads.
The policy also laid out a few examples of what kinds of speech or expression the district considered interference with the educational process. This includes slurs or offensive terms, speech that breaks district policies on discrimination and bullying, threats of violence, violations of privacy, endangerment of the health or safety of others, libel, obscene or otherwise lewd material, speech that encourages the use of illegal substances by minors, speech that incites violation of school rules, or "speech that causes, or in school officials' reasonable judgment appears likely to cause, a substantial disruption to school or district operations or programs."
Members of the committee spent some time in the meeting discussing some of the finer details of what was or was not considered free speech or expression. As an example, Powell said, if a student wore clothing that said "Make America Great Again," that would be allowed. However, staff could not wear clothing that makes a political statement, she said, because they are not supposed to take such stances and influence students. A student wearing a T-shirt with marijuana leaves on it, on the other hand, or hypothetically making a bong in art class would not be allowed.
The committee also discussed a legal case surrounding free speech in schools, which happened several years ago up in the Juneau area. In 2002, according to uscourts.gov, senior high school student Joseph Frederick held up a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus," while attending the Olympic Torch relay through Juneau as part of a school-supervised activity. The school principal, Deborah Morse, told Frederick to put the banner away, and later took the banner when he refused to do so. Frederick was then suspended for 10 days. In 2007, a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Morse v. Frederick that the First Amendment does not prevent school administrators from restricting student expression that can be reasonably viewed as promoting the use of illegal drugs.
After some discussion around what potential scenarios could or could not be argued as free speech, Lancaster suggested that they look at the Juneau school district's policies on the matter for guidance.
As this was only a committee meeting, no action was taken. These policies will be considered in a full school board meeting for approval.
Powell mentioned, at the close of the meeting, that there are several positions open on the policy committee if any member of the public was interested in getting involved.
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