[SchoolMatters] To flyer or not to flyer...

[Brian Wheeler]

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This message is not an official communication of the Albemarle County School
Board. It is a private, e-mail-only newsletter written by Brian Wheeler,
At-Large Member of the Albemarle County School Board. 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Want to share some public comments on this message?  See the weblog version
here:
http://schoolmatters.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/09/to_flyer_or_not.html ]
 
At church this morning, several friends approached me to inquire about the
flyer controversy which was covered in a Daily Progress article last week
(and before that in C-Ville Weekly).  Given their questions, I thought it
might be helpful to share some additional information on this issue.
 
At our meeting Thursday, the Albemarle County School Board is expected to
change the policy related to the distribution of outside materials in one of
two ways: 

1.	the Board will allow equal access to ALL outside organizations
subject to reasonable time, place, manner and other content-neutral
restrictions; or
2.	the Board will eliminate the distribution of all outside materials
to our students. HOWEVER, school and governmental agencies (e.g., PTO/PTA,
booster clubs, County Parks and Recreation, etc.) would still have access.  

Principals were surveyed and they have recommended to the Superintendent
that the board adopt option #2.  At our last meeting, I indicated I would
support option #1 and I brought to the Board my research on what other
school divisions were doing around the country by adding disclaimers on all
outside flyers.  Staff have drafted the following disclaimer for the Board's
consideration:

"Albemarle County Public Schools neither endorses nor sponsors the
organization or activity represented in this material.  The distribution or
display of this material is provided as a community service."

You may be wondering why we are having to change our policy?  It is because
of recent court cases that have informed School Boards they cannot deny a
request from a religious organization if they allow other outside
organizations to distribute materials.  Current Albemarle County policy
explicitly prohibits the distribution of literature that is for religious
purposes.  I have also received questions about how the Boy Scouts can
distribute materials since they reference "duty to god" as an obligation of
membership.  I turns out they have special access to distribute flyers
because of a 2003 law passed in Virginia.  So because of this Virginia law,
if you allow anyone to distribute flyers, the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts
get access too.  If you ban all outside groups, the law would not apply. For
legislation see:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+22.1-79.3
 
Albemarle's current policy was challenged over the summer at Hollymead
Elementary when school staff denied distribution of flyers related to a
vacation bible school.  After further review and in light of recent court
cases, school staff allowed the flyer to be distributed and set in motion
the School Board's review of the flyer policy. You can read the press
release from Liberty Counsel thanking us for promptly reversing the denial
at Hollymead.   See: http://www.lc.org/pressrelease/2006/nr080906.htm
 
According to the material for this week's Board meeting, there were requests
to distribute 97 flyers during all of 2005-06 across the division.  For
arguments sake, let's assume all those flyer requests were intended for all
students in all schools.  According to my math that works out to be one
flyer being distributed every 2 school days.  If you collected the flyers
for distribution in the backpacks on Fridays and adjusted for the fact not
every school gets every flyer, it seems to me based on this data that at the
most you would have 2 flyers a week being sent home with students.
 
If I was writing the laws... I'd keep the policy we have and deny religious
materials from being distributed.  However, I support the continued
distribution of materials by outside groups, even if the courts require us
to accommodate religious materials, because it means groups like the
following who applied in 2005-06 will still have access:
 
4-H
Basketball Leagues
Book Festivals
Boy Scouts
Cheerleading Clinics
Children's Theatre
Contests & Art Related
Cub Scouts
Football Leagues 
Girl Scouts & Brownies
Library & Story Time
Soccer & Lacrosse Leagues
Softball Leagues
Summer Camps
Swimming Events & Teams
YMCA Programs
 
I think the positive aspect of communicating these enrichment opportunities
to our students, particularly if the rate of distribution is as low as two
flyers a week, is a benefit we should support.
 
Brian Wheeler
 
P.S. We should add to the proposed disclaimer: "and are not printed at
taxpayer expense."  Outside groups certainly shouldn't expect us to pay for
the printing and paper. 
 
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Brian Wheeler
 <mailto:bwheeler at albemarlematters.com> bwheeler at albemarlematters.com
 <http://www.wheeleronboard.com/> http://www.wheeleronboard.com
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