ACLU Claims SMSD Board of Education Restricts Free Speech

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas asked the SMSD Board of Education to change its recently-approved open forum policy, saying that it violates the First Amendment.

The board’s policy, approved Nov. 27 in its manual of procedures, does not allow speakers at open forum – the time allotted for community members to address the board – to make “complaints against individual board members and/or individual employees.”

Doug Bonney, Chief Counsel and Legal Director of the ACLU of Kansas, said in a letter sent Dec. 6 that the board’s restriction against naming individuals in open forum comments “violates the Speech Clause of the First Amendment, which gives the people the right to express ‘vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.’”

The board’s official statement regarding the policy, sent via email by vice president Brad Stratton, said the manual of procedures will be reviewed once new board members Laura Guy, Heather Ousley and Mary Sinclair are seated Jan. 8.

“As the Board continues its procedures, it will take the comments in the letter into consideration as it balances the privacy rights of individual students and employees with the free speech rights of individual citizens,” Stratton wrote on behalf of the board.

This is the second letter the ACLU has sent the board regarding its open forum policy. Bonney contacted the board in May issuing similar concerns about violations of free speech after then-board president Sara Goodburn stopped SMSD parent Jeff Passan from making complaints against board member Deb Zila.

“We’ve got better things to do than write to the Shawnee Mission School District about things that they should know better than to do,” Bonney said.

Bonney said the ACLU has not sued a district over open forum policy, though he thinks the ACLU will eventually sue because other school districts’ policies also echo that of the SMSD. The Olathe’s Board of Education’s open forum policy states that “remarks … criticizing specific school district personnel are not permitted” and Blue Valley’s Board of Education allows their board president to “interrupt or terminate any individual’s statement if it is disruptive.”

If a citizen who wished to speak to the board felt they were restricted from speaking by the policy and approached the ACLU, Bonney said they would consider suing the district.

“We don’t really want to sue anybody over this kind of thing,” Bonney said. “[SMSD] should should just fix it, because they’re clearly wrong.”

Bonney thinks the three new board members taking office next year will change the way the board has been operating which, according to Bonney, hasn’t been transparent or responsive to the public at large or the ACLU. Guy, Ousley and Sinclair all anticipate reviewing the current board’s policy and making appropriate changes with the help of legal counsel once they take office.

“We have that chance,” Ousley said. “Come January, it’s a whole new year. It’s a whole new ball game.”

All three member-elects agreed criticism was necessary in order to improve upon actions as a board.

“At the end of the day, we’re an elected body and citizens have the right to criticize their elected officials if they disagree with decisions that they’re making, so people need to have a way to do that,” Guy said. “I hope as a new board, we can figure out what’s the best way to allow that to happen.”

Guy, Ousley and Sinclair heard patrons voice concerns about the district’s transparency while running for the board. Guy and Sinclair both mentioned they wanted to revise the open forum policy during the campaign. Apart from procedure at open forum, each member-elect stressed the importance of keeping the public involved and aware of the board’s decisions.

Ousley named social media as an important mode of communication in keeping her constituents informed. Sinclair mentioned restarting “Super Chats,” open meetings with the superintendent five times a year at area middle schools. Guy said she hoped to publicize when she’d attend school events, so people could approach her in person. Guy and Sinclair talked about potentially re-creating advisory councils where people could address specific issues in a more relaxed setting which could then be relayed to the board.

“I think we need to work together with parents and patrons to figure out what is going to be the effective mode of communication,” Sinclair said. “If we are open to doing those kinds of things, that will change the dynamic of what’s happening at open forum.”