RATIONALE/OBJECTIVE:

The content for the educational program and the instructional objectives for that content shall be maintained in the official curriculum guides and course guides for the levels of instruction of the school system. These documents shall include the content found in the Quality Core Curriculum and be developed by teachers and other professional staff members under the coordination of central office curriculum supervisors. The curriculum guides and course guides of the school system shall be published and made available to classroom teachers and shall be followed in the process of classroom instruction as the basis for each program of study offered.

RULE:

The following procedures and guidelines are established as supporting regulations for course guides dealing with school newspapers.

I. PURPOSES OF GUIDELINES AND RESPONSIBILITY OF SCHOOL

A. A school newspaper is designed to serve as a vehicle for instruction and is, in addition, a means of communication. It is operated, substantially financed and controlled by the Cobb County School District through its employees working with students as part of the Cobb County curriculum.

B. It is the purpose of the guidelines to balance the rights of student expression with the rights of all members of the school community, with the interests of an orderly and efficient educational process, and with the needs of a school environment suitable for the healthy growth and development of all students. It is not the purpose of these guidelines to regulate student expression in behalf of any other interests. The school assumes no responsibility for the contents of any written matter posted, circulated or distributed, or for student activities in connection with this policy, insofar as such matter or activities may relate to any interests other than those stated herein.

II. STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Student's Rights

Subject to the procedures and general limitations herein provided, students who legally attend The Cobb County School District may express opinions and ideas, take stands and support causes, publicly and privately, orally or in writing. Such actions are regarded as "protected activities." There may be no interference with these protected activities based on the belief that any particular idea, opinion or position is unpopular or is contrary or offensive to community opinion or taste.

B. Student's Responsibilities

Personal responsibility for each and every word that gets into print is the hallmark of professionalism in journalism.

III. GENERAL LIMITATIONS

A. As an aid to their interpretation and application, it is hereby stated to be the purpose of these guidelines and the following general limitations to protect the freedom of student expression to the fullest extent consistent with (1) the maintenance of an orderly and efficient educational process and (2) the rights of all members of the school community, including the right to the maintenance of a school environment suitable for the healthy growth and development of all students.

B. The newspaper advisor shall have the primary responsibility of reviewing each article prior to its publication to determine if it satisfied all the conditions of these guidelines. The school principal or his designated representative other than the newspaper advisor may also review copy prior to its publication, if he so requests; however, such copy must be returned to the student editors within 48 hours after it is submitted for review. Nothing in these guidelines is intended to allow censoring of any article merely because it is controversial or because it criticizes a particular school, a school procedure or the school system itself.

1. No activity which materially or substantially interferes with appropriate student discipline on school premises shall be deemed protected activity.

2. No activity which materially disrupts class work or provokes any substantial disorder shall be deemed protected activity.

3. No activity which invades the lawful rights of other persons shall be deemed protected activity.

4. No activity shall be deemed protected activity which involves the use of expression of (1) obscenities, or (2) any sexual or prurient themes where, given the particular context, content and manner of communication, such use or expression may reasonably be expected to be (substantially) harmful to the normal development of younger, impressionable, and less mature students in the school.

5. No activity involving the use of false statements or innuendoes which may subject any person to hatred, ridicule or contempt, or which may injure the reputation of any person, shall be deemed protected activity.

6. No activity unfairly abusive of, or unfairly injurious to, any school personnel shall be deemed protected activity. Nothing herein, however, shall be deemed to prohibit legitimate criticism for the purpose of redressing grievances actually thought to exist.

7. No activity involving statements grossly or unfairly prejudicial to any racial, religious or ethnic group, or any members thereof for the reason of such membership, shall be deemed protected activity.

8. No activity involving the use of printed materials to advocate that any religious denomination, sect or point of view is preferable to any other religious denomination, sect or point of view shall be deemed protected activity.

9. No activity involving the advocacy or encouragement through false information, of the use of any substance or materials which may reasonably be believed to constitute a direct and substantial danger to the health of students, or providing any information as to the availability of such substances or materials, shall be a protected activity.

10. No activity involving advocacy of the violation of existing statutes, ordinances or other established laws or official school policy, rules or regulations shall be deemed protected activity.

11. No activity involving the distribution of written material which has a significant purpose of advertising commercial products or services for sale by profit making organizations shall be deemed a protected activity.

12. No printed material published in connection with a protected activity shall be prepared by use of school equipment or property without specific approval by appropriate school personnel.

13. All copies of any written materials, whether posted on bulletin boards or circulated and distributed on school premises, shall bear the names of approved student organizations or of other sponsoring student groups or students. In the case of a student group, the names of at least two students principally involved in the posting, circulation or distribution shall be included.

14. No endorsements of political candidates, whether such endorsements are made via editorial, article, letter, photograph or cartoon shall be deemed articles. The newspaper may, however, publish "fact sheet" types of articles on candidates and ballot measures, provided such articles do not endorse any person, and provided equal space is provided for all candidates for the particular office.

C. Student publications which are not obscene, libelous or disruptive may be distributed on school property during school hours in areas designated by the principal of the subject school. Distribution which substantially interferes with the normal flow of traffic within the school corridors and entrance ways, which is coercive of any other person's right to accept or reject a publication, or which causes substantial and material interference with "normal school activities" shall not be permitted.

IV. VIOLATIONS OF GUIDELINES

Any violation by any student of the procedures or general limitations herein, or any administrative rules, decisions, or action adopted or taken in pursuance of this policy, may subject the student to discipline, including suspension or expulsion in accordance with such procedures as may be provided by law and rules and regulations adopted by, or pursuant to, the authority of this Board of Education; provided, that except in cases involving gross or willful violations, the first violation of this policy by any student shall be followed by a written warning to cease and desist such alleged violation, which warning shall explain in what way the action violates this policy. A copy of such warning shall be immediately transmitted to such student's parents. Any further violation of this policy by such student may be deemed gross disobedience subject to the penalties herein provided.

A. In addition to the penalties provided in the preceding paragraph, any students participating in any activity, whether individually or in concert, constituting a gross or willful violation of this policy shall be denied the privilege of distributing printed materials or circulating petitions on school premises without the prior submission of such materials or petitions to the appropriate principal, or his designee, for review and determination of compliance with this policy. Subject to the right of appeal provided herein, no such materials or petitions so submitted shall be distributed or circulated where a violation of the general limitations is found to exist.

B. Any student advised of the withdrawal of said privilege who thereafter distributes materials or circulates petitions without complying with the procedures of the preceding paragraph shall be subject to appropriate discipline.

C. In the case of any withdrawal of said privilege following the first gross or willful violation of the policy by any student, the privilege shall be withdrawn for a period of time not to exceed one full semester following the semester in which the violation occurs, provided, however, that the privilege shall not be restored unless and until the student submits to his principal a written statement indicating that the student has read the policy and will endeavor to comply with its requirements.

V. APPEAL PROCEDURES

A. In the event of disagreement as to whether an article should be printed in a school publication, or distributed on school premises, the following appeal procedure shall apply

B. The principal shall render his decision to approve or disapprove the distribution or printing of the material and notify the student(s) within two (2) school days of such decision. If approval to distribute or print is not granted, the principal shall state his reasons in writing to the student(s).

C. If the student(s) is dissatisfied with the decision of the principal, the student(s) may appeal the decision directly to the Superintendent of Schools by notifying the principal in writing within two (2) school days. The principal shall transmit the appeal to the Superintendent within one (1) day after receiving it, and the Superintendent has three (3) school days after receiving the appeal to render a decision in writing.

D. If the student(s) is dissatisfied with the decision of the Superintendent, the student(s) may appeal this decision directly to the Board of Education by notifying the Superintendent in writing within two (2) school days. The Superintendent shall transmit the appeal to the Chairman of the Board of Education within one (1) day after receiving it, and the Chairman shall call a meeting of the Board of Education within three (3) days after receiving the appeal, if a regular scheduled meeting is not scheduled within that three (3) day period. The Board of Education will render a decision, in writing to the student(s) within three (3) days after the special or regularly scheduled meeting.

E. At every level of the process as outlined above, the student(s) or his representative shall have the right to appear and present his case supported by relevant witnesses and materials as to why printing or distribution of the material is appropriate.

F. Printing or distribution of any such material during the period of initial review by the principal, after a negative decision of the principal, or during the period of appeal, shall be sufficient grounds for suspension of the student by the principal in accordance with existing Board Policy.

G. Upon failure of any of the foregoing school authorities in the review and appeals process to act within the time periods specified, the student(s) who submitted the publication for approval may distribute same.

H. In exercising the right of prior review, school personnel shall be guided by the definitions contained herein and the following. Students are protected in their exercise of freedom of expression by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It is the responsibility of the school and its staff to ensure that the right of students to express themselves freely shall not be infringed while at the same time establishing the kind of environment which is necessary for an orderly program of classroom learning.

I. In order for a material to be considered disruptive, there must exist specific, articulate facts upon which it would be reasonable to forecast that a clear and present likelihood of an immediate, substantial material disruption to normal school activity or school discipline would occur if the material were printed or distributed. Mere undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough; school personnel must be able to affirmatively show substantial facts which reasonably support a forecast of likely disruption. Such disruption would include, for example, student rioting; unlawful seizures of property; threats or acts of violence; widespread shouting or boisterous conduct; or substantial student participation in a school boycott, sit-in, stand-in, walkout or other related form of activity. On the other hand, material that stimulates heated discussion or debate does not constitute the type of disruption prohibited.

J. In determining whether a material is disruptive, school personnel should consider the context of the distribution as well as the content of the material. In this regard, consideration should be given to past experience with similar material, past experience in dealing with and supervising the students in the subject school, current events influencing student attitudes and behavior, and whether or not there have been any instances of actual or threatened physical disruption prior to or contemporaneously with the submission of the publication in question.

K. Definitions pertaining to this section on Student Expression:

1. "School day" means any day during regular or summer session on which regularly scheduled classroom instruction takes place and excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and official school holidays.

2. "Publication" means any book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, yearbook, picture, photograph, drawing or any other written or printed matter or visual representation, however produced.

3. "School publication" means any publication, as defined herein, which is composed, compiled, published or distributed under the official supervision of a faculty sponsor.

4. "Student publication" means any publication, as defined herein, which is composed, compiled, published or distributed by students.

5. "Distribution" means circulation or dissemination of the student publication to students at the 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 publication or displaying the material in areas of the school which are generally frequented by students. In dealing with material which is "obscene" or "libelous", the term distribution refers to dissemination of one or more copies; whereas in dealing with all other types of material, dissemination of the student publication so as to make the student publication generally available to students of the subject school.

6. "Normal school activity" means organized educational activity of students under the direct supervision of a member of the school staff which includes classroom work, library activities, physical education classes, official assemblies and other similar gatherings, school athletic contests, band concerts, school plays, and scheduled in-school lunch periods.

7. "Minor" means any person under the age of eighteen (18) years.

8. "Obscene as to minors" means:

(a) Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the publication, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interests of minors; and

(b) Whether the publication depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way to minors, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable Georgia law; and

(c) Whether the work taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.

9. "Libel" is the false and unprivileged publication by writing, printing, picture, effigy or other fixed representation to the eye which exposes a person to public hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy, or which causes the person to be shunned or avoided, or which has a tendency to cause occupational injury.

10. When the publication concerns "public officials", i.e., those who hold government office, or "public figures", i.e., those who by reason of the notoriety of their achievements or the vigor and success with which they seek the public's attention, are properly classed as public figures, in order to be libelous, the defamatory falsehood must be made with actual malice; that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.

11. When the publication concerns private individuals, in order to be libelous, the defamatory falsehood must be made negligently; that is, the publisher must fail to exercise the degree of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in order to avoid making a defamatory falsehood.

VI. STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

A. Any student who desires to distribute a student publication which is not officially recognized as a school publication (as herein defined) shall submit such a student publication to the principal of the subject school for review and approval prior to such distribution. The principal shall have a period of 48 hours to review the publication; if distribution is denied, the student is encouraged to meet personally with the principal so that the student, principal, and parent, if appropriate, may freely exchange views on why the distribution of the student publication is or is not appropriate. The student or his representative may support the case for distribution with relevant witnesses and materials.

B. The same appeals process outlined in these guidelines for student publications shall be used when there is disagreement between the principal and student(s) concerning the appropriateness or distribution of any school publication.

VII. OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES

A. Advisor

The advisor is appointed at the discretion of the principal. It is recommended that, when possible, the advisor be knowledgeable and experienced in the field of journalism.

B. Staff Selection

It is recommended that Introduction to Journalism be a prerequisite to staff appointment. Final staff selection will be left to the discretion of the advisor, with teacher recommendations.

C. Staff Positions

The advisor shall appoint staff to the specified positions and shall provide job descriptions for each staff position. The advisor shall also have the right to suspend (from staff position) or remove staff members who do not fulfill their specified responsibilities.

D. Fiscal Responsibility

The advisor shall establish a budget that realistically reflects the capabilities of the staff, the time frame available and the technical provisions on the local level.

Legal Reference: OCGA 20-2-50; 20-2-57; 20-2-59

Reclassified an Administrative Rule: 9/1/04