Some district events, such as graduation, classes, assemblies and professional development meetings, include the use of student speakers or speakers from outside the district. The purpose of this policy is to establish the parameters for such speakers.

Rules for All Speakers

Regardless of the type of speaker or the event, the speaker is required to follow all district policies and procedures including, but not limited to, the following:

1. The topic of the presentation must respect the mission of the district and be directly related to the curriculum or the purpose of the
2. The presentation must be appropriate for the age level of the students attending and must also be appropriate for any parents/guardians and children who may attend or for a professional environment, when
3. Speakers will be given a general topic or theme upon which to speak. The speech must be consistent with that topic or
4. Obscene, vulgar, lewd or indecent speech is not
5. Speakers will not plagiarize, will properly attribute material authored by another person and will respect copyright, trademark and other applicable state or federal
6. Speakers may not advertise or promote any product, practice or service not permitted to minors by law or district
7. Insulting or fighting words, the very expression of which injures or harasses other people (e.g., threats of violence, defamation of character or of a person's race, religion or ethnic origin), are not
8. The district does not permit speech that, because of its content, presents a clear and present likelihood that it will cause a material and substantial disruption of the proper and orderly operation and discipline of the school or school activities or will cause the commission of unlawful acts or the violation of lawful school

Outside Speakers

The Board, superintendent, principals or teachers may invite speakers from outside the district to speak at school or district events, such as classes or assemblies, or present at professional development programs for district employees or the Board. For the purposes of this policy, outside speakers are those who are not students, district officials or employees.

Any event at which outside speakers are invited to speak is considered a closed forum, and the content of the speech is limited to the purpose of the forum and the specific topic or theme the speaker was directed to address.

Outside speakers may be required to submit a copy of their presentation for the purpose of determining whether it meets the intended purpose of the event and otherwise satisfies the rules established in this policy.

Building administrators are responsible for approving and monitoring the use of outside speakers in their buildings and may revoke an invitation or stop a presentation if the speaker is in violation of this policy or for any legal reason.

Outside speakers at meetings of student-initiated groups are subject to the same rules as other outside speakers who speak at district-sponsored events.