S-3887               _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 6482

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Senators Rinehart, Talmadge, Murray and Niemi

Read first time 1/15/90 and referred to Committee on  Education.

AN ACT Relating to students' freedom of expression in the public schools; and adding new sections to Title 28A RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     Students of the public schools shall have the right to exercise freedom of expression.  Freedom of expression shall include the rights and responsibilities of students, collectively and individually:

          (1) To express their views through speech and symbols;

          (2) To write, publish, and disseminate their views; and

          (3) To assemble peaceably on school property for the purpose of expressing their opinions.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     Sections 1 through 6 of this act shall not protect student expression that is:

          (1) Obscene as to minors as defined by state law;

          (2) Libelous or slanderous as defined by state law; or

          (3) So incites students as to create a clear and present danger of:

          (a) The commission of unlawful acts on school premises;

          (b) The violation of lawful school regulations; or

          (c) The material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.

!ixA finding of material and substantial disruption shall be based on a forecast of material and substantial disruption on specific facts, including past experience in the school and current events influencing student behavior, and not on undifferentiated fear or apprehension.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     A student publication, whether or not sponsored by the school, shall not be subject to prior review by school administrators.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     A teacher shall not be fired, transferred, or removed from his or her position for refusing to suppress the free expression rights of students protected under sections 1 through 6 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     Expressions made by students in the exercise of free speech or free press rights shall not be deemed to be an expression of school policy.  School officials shall not be held responsible in any civil or criminal action for any expression made or published by students, provided the school officials have not interfered with the content decisions of the students.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     Each governing board of a school district shall adopt policies providing for students' freedom of expression consistent with this section.  The policies shall include reasonable provisions for the time, place, and manner of student expression.  The policies shall be distributed to all students at the beginning of each school year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.     Sections 1 through 6 of this act are each added to Title 28A RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8.     If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.