Alexandria, VA – January 17 – In an amicus brief filed on January 16, 2007, the National School Boards Association urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision and uphold a local school board's role to regulate student speech that might undermine the core educational mission of schools or interfere with maintaining a safe, secure, and effective learning environment. 

The case, Morse v. Frederick, involves a group of students who unfurled a banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at an event where students from Alaska's Juneau-Douglas High School were gathered to watch the Olympic Torch Relay pass in front of their school. The principal asked the students to take down the banner.  The 9th Circuit Court ruled that the principal violated the student's clearly established free speech rights.  Additionally, the court agreed that the principal could be held personally liable for her action.

In support of the school district and principal, NSBA General Counsel Francisco Negrón said, "Local school boards need and should be able to define acceptable student speech according to their community values and norms.

  They are intimately familiar with the 'facts on the ground' that may make an expression perceived as innocuous or unremarkable in one school community, inflammatory and divisive in another one."

"Of course, students should continue to have a wide berth to be able to engage in political speech, protest school policies, and express personal viewpoints," said NSBA Executive Director Anne Bryant.  "But the 225,000 school administrators in this country should not be fearful of being able to discipline students when their speech is offensive or disruptive."

The complete amicus brief is available here or  http://www.nsba.org/site/view.asp?CID=889&DID=39831 . 

Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association is a not-for profit federation of state associations of school boards representing 95,000 local school board members throughout the United States. Its mission is to foster excellence and equity in public elementary and secondary education through local school board leadership. NSBA represents the school board perspective in working with federal government agencies and national organizations that impact education, and provides vital information and services to state associations of school boards throughout the nation.