ACLU On Harford School Walkout Ban: 'We Are Deeply Concerned'

BEL AIR, MD — The ACLU of Maryland has written to Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Canavan expressing concern that students' constitutional rights may be infringed upon with regards to the school walkouts planned across the country on March 14. Students in Harford County have been told they may not participate in the walkouts and are being provided with another forum, which officials have described as a learning module inside the school, to express their feelings about the Florida school shootings.

"Students who leave buildings may be subject to disciplinary action for disrupting school operations," Canavan said in a letter last week.

That could be violating students' right to peaceably assemble and exercise freedom of speech, according to the ACLU.

"When school officials threaten to impose discipline for particular speech, they are, in effect, prohibiting it," ACLU of Maryland Staff Attorney Sonia Kumar said in a statement. "Under the First Amendment, schools may not use the threat of more severe punishment to silence students' political speech."

RELATED: Harford Superintendent Says 'No' To Student Walkout

Punishing students for leaving class more severely than they would for any other unexcused absence would be a violation, according to the ACLU of Maryland.

"We encourage Harford County Schools to adopt an approach similar to other Maryland school systems, which recognize students' First Amendment rights and affirm that they will not single out politically-motivated absences from class for harsher punishment," Kumar said.

Harford Walkouts Letter 031218 by Elizabeth Janney on Scribd

Image via Shutterstock.