Today is March 14th, 2018…it is the one month anniversary of the Parkland, Florida tragedy. I am not an attorney nor do I have the desire to be one, however from time to time my job requires that I behave like one at work.  Today was a day where many students exercised their First Amendment Rights in some way, shape or form throughout our Nation and here in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. Students, today is a day that you will likely read about in a history book. Just how the day unfolded for students varied from state to state and district to district. For instance, some school districts gave students carte blanche and in other instances their right of expression was limited.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District is THE case that was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1969 related to student speech rights. Here’s a quick synopsis of the case–In 1965 a small group of students in a very large school district in Iowa wore armbands as a symbolic protest of the Vietnam War and they were disciplined by the school district because the district believed that the armbands would “materially and substantially interfere” with the operation of the school. After numerous appeals, four years later the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students (a 7-2 vote). You can read the court’s opinion here . Essentially the Supreme Court ruled that the district gave students discipline because of a fear of a possible disruption rather than any actual interference. The school disciplined the students for what might have happened  before it actually happened. While the court’s decision was about symbolic free speech, the court indicated the symbol was “akin to pure speech” and was therefore protected. In short, a student’s right to free speech (even when expressed in the form of an armband and peace symbol) can’t be limited because of a fear of disruption to education, but it can be limited when the speech is in fact disruptive to education.

While students do have Free Speech rights under the Constitution, those rights are not unlimited. They aren’t as broad as they might be for an adult functioning in everyday society. In short, the right of expression for the individual ends when normal school functions are impacted. Who determines if normal school functions are impacted? The school administration.

I am writing to provide some perspective…in fact, my perspective. As the superintendent there are decisions that I make that are easy and fun. People like them because they fully agree. In other instances I have to make a decision that some disagree with. It comes with the territory and I accept full responsibility for my decisions. Our district took a very middle of the road and conservative approach to the first National Student Walkout.

Here Is What We Permitted

While one could make a very convincing argument that a student walkout was indeed a disruption to education, Olmsted Falls Schools did not take this approach.

• We permitted students to leave their classrooms and we did not discipline them for doing so.
• Some students spoke, signed a banner to remember the lost lives from Parkland, FL and others wrote a letter to their politicians. School was disrupted for approximately 20 minutes.

Here Is What We Did Not Permit

• We did not permit the creation of a forum for gun control.
• Students were not permitted to distribute fliers during the school day within the school to advertise the student walkout.
• Students were not permitted to hold signs with a symbol of a gun (even if the symbol said “no guns.”).
• Students were not permitted to display banners within the building that said anything pertaining to gun control.       

While I have my own personal views on the issues being debated at the National level when it comes to the 2nd Amendment, I am not permitting a forum to be established within our school district regardless of where an individual stands on the issue (including where I might stand). If I permit a forum, that forum opens for those opposed and for the issue, and it creates the potential for other issues to have a forum.

Today, my goal was to keep students safe and maintain an orderly environment. Each school district community handled today’s events in their own way and while some may disagree with our conservative plan, it got the job done–students spoke their minds, kids were safe, the environment was orderly and the learning resumed.  I was very proud of the way in which our students and staff conducted themselves today and you should be too. They were safe, respectful and responsible. I sincerely appreciate the ongoing support we have received by our Police Department. Every time we’ve needed additional support, they have delivered.

On March 21 at 7:00 in the High School Auditorium we will have a community forum to talk about school safety in Olmsted Falls Schools. During that time we will provide attendees with an update as to what we’ve done to maintain a safe environment and what we are going to do in order to make it safer. We will talk about the physical plant, our personnel, student mental health and how the most preventative measure as it relates to school violence is connecting kids–to one another and to the adults. Keeping schools and students safe is complex. It takes significant cooperation between school, home and community.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Jim Lloyd, Superintendent