Over 150 students and staff from all 25 high schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, are calling for school leaders to withdraw a March memo they say could lead to censorship of student publications.
According to , Dr. Peter Moran, who serves as the chief of schools for the Montgomery County school district, circulated a memo requiring all schools to designate an administrator to review every 鈥渟tudent publication and school-related printed material,鈥� prior to publication.
The memo was filed on March 19.
Concerned students said the March memo uses vague language to describe content administrators are instructed to censor outright. They said the new list includes language not found in prior policy, such as 鈥渆mbarrassing or private moments,鈥� 鈥渞idicule of individuals or groups,鈥� and 鈥渟arcasm or teasing that could be interpreted as bullying.鈥�
鈥淎 student using his opinion column to harass and spread unfounded gossip about the class president is very different from a student writing a sharp critique of a speech given by a Board of Education member 鈥� yet both could be considered 鈥榬idicule of individuals or groups,鈥欌�� the letter states.
The letter cites concerns from The Student Press Law Center, which states the memo, as written, appears to 鈥渋mpose broad prior review without clear standards, timelines, appeal rights, or safeguards required to protect student journalists under Maryland law.鈥�
which was signed in 2016 by then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, students in the state are the ones responsible for determining the content of school-sponsored media, and have the right to exercise freedom of speech and press.
鈥淭he act explicitly states that the school system does not have editorial control over a publication just because the publication is produced as part of a class or supported financially by the school,鈥� the letter states.
The law lists some exceptions where a school is allowed to restrain student journalism, including content that is:
- Libelous or slanderous
- Constitutes an unwarranted invasion of privacy
- Violates federal or state law
- Incites students to create a clear and present danger of the commission of an unlawful act, violate county school board policies or create a material or substantial disruption of the orderly operation of a school
Montgomery County Public Schools leadership has called the issues addressed by the letter as 鈥渕isperceptions.鈥�
MCPS Public Information Officer Liliana Lopez told 海角社区app in a statement that the memorandum was to “remind school administrators of their responsibility to supervise students and student publications in alignment with the MCPS鈥� Student Rights and Responsibilities,” and that “nothing in the memorandum interferes with student journalism or imposes prior restraint.”
Prior restraint refers to the shutting down of speech or publication before it occurs.
鈥淔or example, we have had instances at schools where inappropriate content was printed, but not reviewed first, in school yearbooks and other publications, resulting in substantial disruption to school operations and community hurt. Careful prior review could have prevented hurtful impacts to the school community in these instances,鈥� Lopez wrote.
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