in Independent 2019 NAIS POCC Conference - Seattle Brenda Leaks, Head of at Seattle Girls’ School Onik’a Gilliam-Cathcart, Of Counsel at Helsell Fetterman LLP

Philosophical Considerations ● General ○ Mission, Culture, and Values: ■ Is fostering student expression and autonomy in this way generally in keeping with the mission, culture, and values of your school? ■ What about when your school’s culture and values don't support the subject or message of the intended expression? ● When Supporting ○ How much support is too much? i.e. When does it become a "school" event? ○ What about who do not want to participate? Does the school have a responsibility to protect them from any backlash of not protesting? ○ What about staff who do or don't participate as directed on personal objection grounds? Are they disciplined? Are they given alternative work activities? ● When Not Supporting Student Protest ○ How will you manage any backlash from your community for not supporting a protest? ○ How will you handle students who protest? Punitive action? ○ How will you handle staff who protest? ● Walk-Outs (unknown/surprise) ○ How will you handle students who walk out? ○ What about staff who want to walkout with students? ● Final Tips ○ Be proactive - consider key questions in advance ○ Include students - students are eager to act in the face of inequities, but do not always know how to organize. ○ Consider your families - when possible, offer context, guidance, and resources to families for at-home discussions ○ Media - Schools should have a media policy in place that clearly outlines for all staff who is authorized to speak on behalf of the school. Many schools have also started to consider and develop crisis communication plans that would generally be activated in times when sources and information are more diffuse - a walkout or student protest might apply here given the role of social media.

Legal Considerations ● General

○ Barring receipt of federal funds or ADA implications, schools are free to determine how they are going to respond to student protest. ○ Ideally, response should be evenly applied and not based on whim of Head of School or one individual administrator. ● When Supporting Student Protest ○ Mitigate risks and liability ■ Consider giving advance notice of action and plan to parents and community. ● Consider if you should obtain written parental consent or a waiver to participate ○ What about students who don’t obtain permission or whose parents explicitly object? ○ When are students old enough to provide their own consent? ■ Look to your student population, age appropriateness, and size; staffing needs, etc. ● A walkout by students with physical disabilities or developmental delays would require greater ratio of staff to student ● K-5 v. Middle School v. High School require different levels of oversight ○ Check with your insurance carrier as to their opinion of what constitutes a "school event". ■ Any guidance/exclusions related to school-sanctioned student protest? ● When Not Supporting Student Protest ○ Would discipline determination depend on length of time of protest, subject of protest, or number or type of students participating? ○ How will disciplinary consequences be applied? ■ student yelling in class as insubordinate behavior vs protest behavior ○ What about staff who want to protest with students even without school support? Will they be disciplined for their actions? ● Walk-Outs ○ Reasonable anticipation ■ When would a school reasonably be expected to anticipate a walk-out? ■ Given that, how will your school determine areas/students to supervise or not? ■ When students walk out, could a school anticipate students leaving the protest altogether? ■ What procedures could be put in place to account for students at the end of a walk out? ○ Risks ■ Personal Injuries; ■ Exposure to Third-Party Bad Actors (access to and by people who are not under school control while school is in loco parentis); ​ ​ ■ Elopement (student leaving campus and walking out to engage in other activity); ■ Negligence (legal liability and the reasonable anticipation of risks). ● Final Tips ○ Adopt a policy outlining standards for school-sanctioned expression ○ Make plans for students and/or staff who go beyond those limits ○ Decide who has ultimate discretion