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Public Distribution of Materials in Moorhead Area Public Schools

Type: School Board Policy

Section: 900 SCHOOL DISTRICT - COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Code: 904

Adopted Date: 6/23/2003

Revised Dates: 1/8/2007, 12/12/2011, 5/2/2019, 5/9/2019

Reviewed Dates: 1/8/2007, 12/12/2011, 6/13/2016, 6/21/2022, 7/22/2022

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to provide for distribution of materials appropriate to the school setting by nonstaff and nonstudents on school district property in a reasonable time, place, and manner which does not disrupt the educational program nor interfere with the educational objectives of the school district.

II. GENERAL STATEMENT

A. Moorhead Area Public Schools intends to provide a method for nonschool persons and organizations to distribute materials appropriate to the school setting, within the limitations and provisions of this policy. Moorhead Area Public Schools reserves the right to edit or to refuse any materials submitted.

B. To provide for the orderly and non-disruptive distribution of materials, the School Board adopts Administrative Procedure 904.1 .

III. DEFINITIONS

A. "Distribution" means circulation or dissemination of materials by means of handing out free copies, selling or offering copies for sale, accepting donations for copies, posting or displaying materials, or placing materials in internal staff or student mailboxes.

B. "Materials" includes all materials and objects intended by nonschool persons or nonschool organizations for distribution. Examples of nonschool-sponsored materials include but are not limited to leaflets, brochures, buttons, badges, flyers, petitions, posters, underground newspapers whether written by students, employees or others, and tangible objects.

C. "Nonschool person" means any person who is not currently enrolled as a student in or employed by the school district.

D. "Obscene to minors" means:

1. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest of minors of the age to whom distribution is requested;

2. The material depicts or describes, in a manner that is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community concerning how such conduct should be presented to minors of the age to whom distribution is requested, sexual conduct such as intimate sexual acts (normal or perverted), masturbation, excretory functions, and lewd exhibition of the genitals; and

3. The material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

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

F. "Material and substantial disruption" of a normal school activity means:

1. Where the normal school activity is an educational program of the school district for which student attendance is compulsory, "material and substantial disruption" is defined as any disruption which interferes with or impedes the implementation of that program.

2. Where the normal school activity is voluntary in nature (including school athletic events, school plays and concerts, and lunch periods) "material and substantial disruption" is defined as student rioting, unlawful seizures of property, conduct inappropriate to the event, participation in a school boycott, demonstration, sit-in, stand-in, walk-out, or other related forms of activity.

In order for expression to be considered disruptive, there must exist specific facts upon which the likelihood of disruption can be forecast, including past experience in the school, current events influencing student activities and behavior, and instances of actual or threatened disruption relating to the written material in question.

G. "School activities" means any activity sponsored by the school, including but not limited to, classroom work, library activities, physical education classes, official assemblies and other similar gatherings, school athletic contests, band concerts, school plays, other theatrical productions, and in-school lunch periods.

H. "Libelous" is a false and unprivileged statement about a specific individual that tends to harm the individual's reputation or to lower him or her in the esteem of the community.

IV. VIOLATION OF POLICY

Any party violating this policy or distributing materials without permission will be directed to leave the school property immediately and, if necessary, law enforcement will be called.

Legal References:
U. S. Const., amend. I
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260, 108 S.Ct. 562, 98 L.Ed.2d 592 (1988)
Doe v. South Iron R-1 School District, 498 F.3d 878 (8th Cir. 2007)
Bystrom v. Fridley High School, 822 F.2d 747 (8th Cir. 1987)

Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., 473 U.S. 788, 105 S.Ct. 3439, 87 L.Ed.2d 567 (1985)

Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n, 460 U.S. 37, 103 S.Ct. 948, 74 L.Ed.2d 794 (1983)

Roark v. South Iron R-1 School Dist., 573 F.3d 556 (8th Cir. 2009)

Cross References:
Moorhead School Board Policy 511: Student Fund Raising
Moorhead School Board Policy 505: Distribution of Nonschool-Sponsored Materials on School Premises by Students and Employees
MSBA/MASA Model Policy: (511 Student Fundraising)
MSBA/MASA Model Policy: Distribution of Nonschool-sponsored Materials on School Premises by Students and Employees