Acton and Boxborough Don’t Know the Law

Acton and Boxborough Don’t Know the Law

February 27, 2001

The Acton Beacon reported in December that the Acton School Committee will likely move to prevent distribution of announcements from all outside groups in its elementary schools.

It quoted Acton School Committee member Jesse Liberty who (incorrectly) “noted that the DOE opinion states that they would have to allow materials from any outside organization, including hate groups, if they were to allow one group to distribute. ‘I am not a lawyer, but I read the DOE opinion to suggest that if we allow your soccer team to send home a notice, we have to allow the American Nazi Party to send home a notice,’ Liberty said.” Superintendent Ryan said, “I don’t think there’s any question that respect for human differences is one of the core values of our school community.”

The elementary school in neighboring Boxborough (which shares a middle and high school with Acton) has decided to keep its old policy of allowing the distribution of Boy Scout notices for now, according to the paper. But there, too, its School Committee is employing an “all-or-none” interpretation to the advisory from the state. It has decided to continue to distribute all mail from outside non-profits, regardless of message or content, saying that the advantages of keeping parents informed outweighed the risks. School Committee member John Fallon said, “We have to let them all in, not just one group.”

The regional school committee of Acton and Boxborough are discussing a draft of a new policy finalizing literature distribution in the regional schools. It states that only “the schools’ administration, a town department, or a program or group affiliated with or recognized by the schools and having as its purpose supporting the School Department” will have this access.

Curiously, the proposed policy will not permit “bigoted, obscene or scurrilous” materials. Could this possibly be applied to the information distributed at the school-sponsored Gay-Straight Alliance sex club meetings?

Also odd is the proposal to outlaw “any material which has partisan political or religious content …for purposes of advocacy” and which is not clearly used for an “educational purpose.” Isn’t advocacy of “gay rights” political? How is “educational” defined? (Does the GSA have free reign to distribute materials because it has an “educational purpose?”) Will materials advocating a humanist or pagan worldview no longer be acceptable, because they are arguably “religious?”

Further, the draft states that “material which is deemed to be unduly disruptive of the education program” will not be allowed. Does this mean that GSA sex club meeting announcements and materials will be banned? Focusing adolescent minds on sex during the school day is arguably disruptive of education.

For example, on January 12 the Acton-Boxborough High School GSA bulletin board (in the main hall) held a flyer from “Safe Homes of Central Massachusetts.” Safe Homes “provides foster/alternative parenting, mentoring, activities and resources for GLBTQ [gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning] youth.” It invited students to audition for an original theater production “Out and About” which will begin touring in March. There was also a notice from the “Reconciling Congregation Program” which directs students to United Methodist churches “welcoming” homosexuals and bisexuals.

This bulletin board obviously makes information from outside groups available to students during the official school day. If a school adopts an “all-or-none” policy on literature distribution, such notices could no longer be posted.