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Mission Statement

Eagle News is a student-run journalism program at Southeast Middle School with the goal to highlight stories around the school community and of student interest.

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Handbook

Eagle News Handbook by SHANNON LIPP

California Code, Education Code - EDC § 48907

(a) Pupils of the public schools, including charter schools, shall have the right to exercise freedom of speech and of the press including, but not limited to, the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed materials or petitions, the wearing of buttons, badges, and other insignia, and the right of expression in official publications, whether or not the publications or other means of expression are supported financially by the school or by use of school facilities, except that expression shall be prohibited which is obscene, libelous, or slanderous. Also prohibited shall be material that so incites pupils as to create a clear and present danger of the commission of unlawful acts on school premises or the violation of lawful school regulations, or the substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.

(b) The governing board or body of each school district or charter school and each county board of education shall adopt rules and regulations in the form of a written publications code, which shall include reasonable provisions for the time, place, and manner of conducting such activities within its respective jurisdiction.

(c) Pupil editors of official school publications shall be responsible for assigning and editing the news, editorial, and feature content of their publications subject to the limitations of this section. However, it shall be the responsibility of a journalism adviser or advisers of pupil publications within each school to supervise the production of the pupil staff, to maintain professional standards of English and journalism, and to maintain the provisions of this section.

(d) There shall be no prior restraint of material prepared for official school publications except insofar as it violates this section. School officials shall have the burden of showing justification without undue delay prior to a limitation of pupil expression under this section.

(e) “Official school publications” refers to material produced by pupils in the journalism, newspaper, yearbook, or writing classes and distributed to the student body either free or for a fee.

(f) This section does not prohibit or prevent the governing board or body of a school district or charter school from adopting otherwise valid rules and regulations relating to oral communication by pupils upon the premises of each school.

(g) An employee shall not be dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against solely for acting to protect a pupil engaged in the conduct authorized under this section, or refusing to infringe upon conduct that is protected by this section, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.

LAUSD Guidelines for Students' Right of Free Expression

Students have a right to freedom of expression and may participate in free speech activities, including political or religious speech, while on school campus. Students may distribute literature reflective of their views and opinions. Students may assemble on campus during non- instructional time to discuss their views and opinions and may participate in peaceful protests and demonstrations on campus. Students may exercise these rights as long as their speech, expression, or conduct is not obscene, lewd, libelous, slanderous, incite students to destroy property or inflict injury upon any person, or cause a substantial disruption to the operations of the school.

California law permits school site administrators to establish reasonable parameters for those students who wish to exercise their free speech rights on campus or during the school day. School site administrators may establish reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of the speech or activity in order to maintain a safe and peaceful campus for all students and District employees.

While Los Angeles Unified School District recognizes and respects a student’s freedom of speech rights, District employees shall not promote, endorse, or participate in any student demonstration, distribution of materials, assembly, sit-in, or walk-out.

Below are some examples, not exhaustive, of protected student activities:

Silent protests during a school assembly or activity, including wearing a ribbon or armband;
Peaceful demonstrations during noninstructional time that do not disrupt the educational program (e.g., are not so loud as to make instruction impossible, do not block entrance/exit to a common area);
Opinions/editorials in the student newspaper, within the parameters of a school- sponsored publication (see Board Rule 1275 for more information).

From Board Rule 1275:

D. Material Not Permitted in Official School Newspapers:

Material which is libelous or which violates the right of privacy;
Material which is obscene, according to current standards of our community;
Profanity, hereby defined as that language which would not be used in the L.A. Times or the L.A. Herald-Examiner;
Material which advocates the breaking of any law;
Material which criticizes or demeans any race, religion, sex, or ethnic group;
Ads for cigarettes, liquor, or any other product not permitted to teenagers;
Any material, the publication of which would cause substantial disruption of the school. Substantial disruption is hereby defined as the threat of physical violence in the school or nearby community and/or the disruption of the school’s educational program;
Official endorsements of political candidates or ballot measures whether such endorsements are made by editorial, article, letter, photograph or cartoon. A student newspaper may not officially advocate a position. It may, however, present through article, letter, photograph, or cartoon opposing positions and candidates so long as all major issues and candidates are given equal space, content, and strength of argument.

This LAUSD Legal Brief is for information only and does not constitute legal advice. Please contact the Office of the General Counsel to determine how this information may apply to your school’s specific facts and circumstances.