ACLU urges Iowa school board to deny request to regulate student protests

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa is urging an Iowa school board not to consider restricting student protests.

In a letter sent to the Atlantic School Board in advance of its June 14 meeting, the ACLU of Iowa urged the board not to consider or adopt policies prohibiting student demonstration. The letter was in response to an Atlantic School Board meeting, where one attendee asked the board to regulate protests, ACLU officials said Monday.

LeAnn Pellett made comments during the public comment portion of a May 10 Atlantic School Board meeting representing 30 residents, speaking out against student protests. Pellett suggested a new policy be created by the board to limit protests to be held before or after school hours and preferably not on school grounds.

Pellett did not mention a protest by name, but did say her comments were in response to a March 1 protest. 

A Feb. 28 article from the Atlantic High School Needle announced plans for a walkout “to protest the recent anti-LGBTQIA+ bills being debated in the Iowa legislature.” The protest took place March 1. 

Pellett, on behalf of the group, told the board that she does expect free speech to be allowed in schools, and both sides of an issue have a right to be represented.

“If you’re allowing this special group of students to use their First Amendment right by putting up posters and flags supporting their opinion throughout our schools, we would expect that students who have differing opinions will be allowed to put up posters and flags expressing their opinions, as well,” Pellett said.

Thomas Story, staff attorney for ACLU of Iowa, said Monday he is not aware of any instances or issues presented by flags or posters hung in the halls of Atlantic High School.

The ACLU’s letter reminds the board of the duty of schools. 

“As an initial matter, your mission as a public school is not merely to instruct in math, language and science, but to inculcate in your students the ‘fundamental values necessary to the maintenance of a democratic political system,’” the letter stated, referencing Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, a 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing public school officials to prohibit school assembly speeches that are vulgar, lewd or plainly offensive. 

The letter also references Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, a U.S. Supreme Court case from Iowa, which occurred as a result of anti-war protests. The case stated that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

The ACLU points out measures schools may take regarding protests, while staying in line with precedents in place regarding freedom of speech protections. 

“What a school may do is, with an even hand, punish behavior that ‘materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others,’” Story wrote. “A school does not permissibly regulate student speech through a ‘protest policy,’ which, by definition and on its face, regulates and penalizes the expression of disfavored viewpoints and political content. Instead, a school should only regulate walkouts through an unbiased and consistent application of an existing attendance policy. Students in Iowa are generally required to attend school absent an acceptable excuse.”

The ACLU suspects that Atlantic may not be the only school in Iowa hearing complaints such as those made by Pellett.

“Right now in Iowa, I imagine that there are other schools hearing similar concerns, similar suggestions from their citizens,” Story said in a news conference. “I think it is clear from the letter that we’re watching Atlantic and if any schools do take the next step, certainly we would be prepared to look at all of our options.”

The article from the Needle also included statements from Atlantic High School’s principal, Heather McKay, stating students protesting on school grounds in a manner that does not cause a school-wide disruption will not be disciplined for truancy. McKay was not immediately available for comment Monday.

Since the May 10 comment made by Pellett, the school board has had two special meetings. No agenda item related to truancy or protest policies was listed for either meeting. Additionally, there is not a similar agenda item listed for a regularly scheduled June 14 meeting.

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