September 15, 2007, Introduced by Reps. Coulouris, Miller, Constan, Alma Smith, Byrnes, Calley, Tobocman and Wojno and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1315.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1315. (1) A school board, school administrator, or school
employee shall not subject a pupil publication to prior review or
prior restraint, except under the following circumstances:
(a) The content of the pupil publication meets 1 or more of
the following:
(i) Is obscene as to minors under state or federal law.
(ii) Is actionable as defamation or invasion of privacy under
state or federal law.
(iii) Causes a school administrator, based on specific facts and
not undifferentiated fear or apprehension, to reasonably believe
that there is a clear and present danger of either of the
following:
(A) The commission of an unlawful act or the violation of a
lawful school regulation.
(B) A material and substantial disruption of the orderly
operation of the school or of any school facility.
(iv) Constitutes advertising for a product or service that is
illegal for minors.
(b) A pupil seeking to disseminate a pupil publication
voluntarily obtains prior review of that publication upon his or
her own initiative.
(2) All of the following apply to a pupil publication:
(a) The school shall appoint a faculty adviser to supervise
the production of the publication, teach professional standards of
English and journalism, and encourage free and responsible
expression of pupil content. Review by the faculty adviser of
material prepared for a pupil publication to encourage high
standards of English and journalism is not considered to be a
restraint on publication of the material or an abridgment of the
freedom of expression in pupil publications.
(b) The pupils constituting the editorial staff are
responsible for determining the news, opinion, and advertising
content, if any, of the publication.
(c) Subject to the provisions of applicable collective
bargaining agreements, a school board or school administrator shall
not discipline, discharge, transfer, or reassign or remove from his
or her position a faculty adviser for refusing to alter or
interfere with the free expression rights specified in this section
or in other law.
(3) A pupil publication or other expression by a pupil in the
exercise of rights under this section is not considered to be an
expression of school district policy.
(4) A school board, school district, school board member,
school administrator, or faculty adviser is not liable in any civil
or criminal action for any expression made by a pupil unless the
school board, school district, school board member, or school
administrator altered or interfered with the content of the pupil's
expression.
(5) A student editor or other pupil of a school district who
has attained the age of majority may be found liable in a civil or
criminal action for content expressed in a pupil publication to the
extent of his or her responsibility for and involvement in the
preparation and publication of that content.
(6) If a school board operates a school that regularly has a
pupil publication, then not later than 1 year following the
effective date of this section, the school board shall prepare a
written pupil publication policy consistent with this section and
shall make the policy available to pupils and parents in written or
electronic form. The policy may include reasonable regulations of
the time, place, and manner for distribution of pupil publications.
(7) A pupil or a faculty adviser may bring an action for
injunctive or declaratory relief or damages in the circuit court in
a county in which the school district is located to enforce this
section. A substantially prevailing plaintiff in an action under
this subsection may recover actual attorney fees and court costs.
(8) As used in this section:
(a) "Pupil publication" means any matter that is prepared,
substantially written, or published by pupils; that is distributed,
broadcast by closed circuit or cable, or otherwise generally made
available to members of the student body, either free of charge or
for a fee; and that is prepared under the direction of a
certificated teacher.
(b) "School board" means a school board, intermediate school
board, or board of directors of a public school academy.
(c) "School district" means a school district, intermediate
school district, or public school academy.