Student's Facebook Rant Protected by First Amendment

In 2007 a senior at Pembroke Pines Charter High School, Katherine Evans, created a Facebook page on which she claimed one of her teachers was "the worst teacher I've ever met. To those students who have had the displeasure of having Ms. Sarah Phelps, or simply knowing her and her insane antics: Here is the place to express your feelings of hatred." A few days later, Evans removed the page. Two months after Evans had removed the page, the principal suspended Evans for three days for cyber-bullying a staff member and removed Evans from the AP English class. Evans filed suit against the principal asking that the suspension be removed from her record. The principal asked for the suit to be dismissed.

Earlier this week a federal magistrate weighed in on the case and declared, "Evans' free speech falls under the wide umbrella of protected speech. It was an opinion of a student about a teacher, that was published off-campus, did not cause any disruption on-campus, and was not lewd, vulgar, threatening, or advocating illegal or dangerous behavior," and that Evans' rant "falls under the wide umbrella of protected speech." In other words, Evans' rant was protected under the First Amendment. Therefore, the suit against the principal will not be dismissed but rather will be allowed to move forward once it is amended so that it no longer requests a removal of the suspension from her record.

At this point, the story has garnered national attention and the ACLU is involved. I believe, and so do a number of experts on First Amendment law, this case will be important.

As I've processed all the articles and information about this case over the last few days, here are some points that are worthy of consideration. I'm not weighing in on any of these but am offering them up for thought and for discussion.

• Did the school's student handbook expressly prohibit students from referencing the school or school employees on a website or social media site? If so, would (should) this even be an issue now? If not, on what basis did the principal punish Evans?
• Did the school's principal err in his judgment to suspend Evans for three days (and remove her from her AP English class) considering first, the Facebook page came down only a few days after it went up; second, the page contained nothing but her opinion and was, in fact, neither alarming nor obscene; third, the incident was dealt with two months after the page came down?
• Would events have unfolded any differently if the principal discovered the page, asked Evans to remove it, and Evans complied? Would events have unfolded any differently if the principal had discovered the page, asked Evans to remove it, and Evans refused?

I will be watching this story carefully and will post updates as they become available.

On a side note, I find it only fitting that Evans currently is enrolled in the University of Florida and is studying journalism.

If you're interested in more articles about the case, click HERE.

Keeping Your Handbook and Policies Current and Relevant

This is the time of year when we, the leaders on our campuses, start looking ahead to the next school year. As educational leaders we're thinking about budgets, contracts, hiring, enrollment and more. We also should be looking ahead to next year with regard to the school handbook and the policies contained within. Ideally, over the course of any given school year, the school leadership constantly makes notes in the handbook as issues arise which are not directly addressed in the handbook. Such issues arise more frequently than ever before as the technology used by our students changes monthly and weekly.

Here are a few things you might want to consider when reviewing your handbook for possible changes, additions or clarification for the 2009-10 school year:

• sexting and emailing pornographic images - What happens when your students are involved? when your students send or receive or view? when your student is in the photo(s)?
• cyberbullying - What will your response be to students who are cyberbullied? to those who are cyberbullying? How will you differentiate between cyberbullying and "just joking?"
• cheating with cell phones and other devices - Do you know how kids use cell phones and other devices to cheat on exams and projects? Will cheating with an electronic device be treated the same as a pen and paper cheat sheet?
• searching cell phones and other devices - Do you know when it is appropriate to search a student's cell phone or device? Is it clearly explained in writing?
• cell phones vs. iTouch and other 3G devices that are not phones - If cell phones are banned, what do you do with internet-ready devices that aren't phones?
• Facebook, MySpace, social networking sites, chats and blogs - What do you do with students speaking out against the school? against faculty and administration? What do you with images of your students on social networking sites in which your students are drinking, doing drugs or are engaged in other prohibited behaviors? Does it make a difference if the students are somehow connected to your school in the images (uniforms, t-shirts, etc.)? What if images of faculty or staff appear on social networking sites portraying them in the same situations described above?
• YouTube - What happens when your students shoot video in your school or classrooms and post to sites such as YouTube? Does it make a difference if the video is objectionable or not? What if your student appears in an objectionable video online?
• recording digital images at school - If digital cameras (still and/or video) are prohibited at school, what about cell phones and other devices with cameras? How will you handle a parent whose child records a teacher's poor performance without anyone's knowledge then posts the video or turns it over to the school? Who's in more trouble - student or teacher?

You may think your handbook covers everything teens are up to these days. If it does, send me a copy so I can study it and learn from it. As you look ahead to next year and consider your handbook or policies, I urge you to think outside the box and to try to anticipate issues likely to arise next year that are not addressed in writing currently. Technology, the law, schools and limitations of things like privacy and expression are still basically uncharted waters. Educational leaders in the 21st century have no excuse for being caught off-guard by the things our students are doing with today's (and tomorrow's) technology. If your handbook still uses language like CD player or Walkman, you probably need to update.