Superintendent Proposal Aims At Curbing Offensive Speech

HOOVER, AL - A new proposal by the Hoover City School Superintendent Dr. Kathy Murphy would have Hoover students watching what they say - both in and out of school. The Code of Conduct proposal introduced earlier this month is now in the hands of the school board for its consideration.

Murphy's proposal comes in the wake of a viral social media post involving Spain Park High School students that contained racist language. The incident caught on video occurred off school grounds, which put any kind of disciplinary action out of the hands of the school system.

The video included students saying,"Fine, we just need n----rs gone," and "Without the Holocaust, what would the world be like? Jews would run the world," and "F--k n----rs, f--k Jews."

"We are exceptionally sad and disappointed that this would either be the attitude of some of our young people or whatever would prompt them to have such conversations," Murphy said in March when the video surfaced.

Murphy proposal would make it class 3 infraction for a student to engage in any conduct or language "that has the purpose or effect (or that could be reasonably perceived as having the purpose or effect) or disparaging, insulting, degrading, or demeaning any person or class of persons based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or any other trait or characteristic that enjoys protection from discrimination or harassment as a matter of law or board policy — including but not limited to emails, social media postings and other forms of communication that creates or substantially contributes to disruption in the school setting, whether or not it takes place on school property or at a school-related event, and whether or not it was intended as a private communication or for a limited audience."

Murphy's said she wants to get feedback from the school board and from the community on the proposal:

Currently a class 3 infraction carries punishment including ban from extracurricular activities, placement in alternative school, expulsion, permanent removal from a school bus and revocation of technology privileges.

Due to the controversial nature of the proposal, the school board will likely not vote on the measure at its June meeting, but will possibly be ready to vote on the matter in July after enough feedback has been considered.