|
|
|
|
|
Recruiting lawsuit is settled
by Jule Hubbard
Over seven hours of court-ordered mediation in a lawsuit filed over school access of military recruiters and those wanting to share other views with high school students ended about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday with an agreement.
Under a plan approved by the Wilkes County Board of Education and representatives of North Carolina Peace Action Inc., no recruiters will be able to visit a Wilkes high school without already having an appointment with a student.
Dr. Steve Laws, Wilkes school superintendent, said this would apply to recruiters for the military, colleges and universities, businesses and other entities, including North Carolina Peace Action Inc.
Although not stated in the agreement, recruiters will be able to let students know they are available for appointments and when through daily school announcements. He said the availability of recruiters could also be announced through literature left at designated locations at each high school.
Laws said that under the agreement, each entity and its recruiters would have two weeks per semester to schedule on-campus appointments with students.
On-campus meetings between recruiters and students must be at locations designated by principals. Follow-up visits between students and recruiters will occur off campus.
Laws said the school board would amend its student access policy to reflect the agreement, which he said was put forth by school officials during mediation. The agreement was worked out through assistance of Dickson Phillips, an independent mediator from Chapel Hill.
The agreement was signed by Laws, school board chairman Coleen Bush, Bill Towe of N.C. Peace Action Inc. and Sally Ferrell of Boomer. Ms. Ferrell initiated the legal action by seeking access to the schools to challenge information provided by military recruiters. The mediation was at the school board's administrative offices on Cherry Steet, North Wilkesboro.
"This recruiters practice and all other recruiting policies shall be enforced equally as to all Recruiters. N.C. Peace Action and its members will have the same opportunity to participate under the new recruiter practice and all other recruiting policies as the military and any other recruiters, and all recruiters will be given the opportunity to present orally or in writing information regarding non-military career options and truthful, job-related information about military careers, which some may perceive as negative or discouraging, including but not limited to, materials that have been allowed under policy 5210," the agreement stated.
"Modification to recruiter practice and this agreement will be applicable to the 2009-10 school year and thereafter; provided, the BOA (Wilkes Board of Education) shall not be precluded from revising, repealing or modifying its policies as it sees fit, so long as the principles of equal access allowed to N.C. Peace Action and all other recruiters are preserved in any such new recruiter policy," the agreement also stated.
"The parties agree that final termination of this case shall be conditioned upon compliance with this settlement agreement. To secure compliance, this case and all claims herein shall be placed on the inactive calendar until the end of calendar year 2010, subject to being revived by either party should a material breach of the agreement be committed by the other, otherwise to be dismissed at the end of 2010 with prejudice. Provided no material breach occurs and the case is finally dismissed without being revived, each party shall bear its own attorney's fees and costs; otherwise, the claims therefore are not waived."
Laws said today in a written statement, "The mediated agreement concludes a very good week for Wilkes County schools. We are thankful to be able to retain all employees for the coming school year, our calendar proposal was approved by the North Carolina legislature and now we have resolution to the legal issue of Peace Action vs. Wilkes County Board of Education. We are extremely pleased with the agreement and excited to begin what will be a great school year."
After reading a press release about the agreement from the American Civil Liberties Union, Laws said the settlement preserved the school board's current policy on campus recruiting, with procedural implementation of the existing policy modified as proposed by the school board to provide individual conferences between students and recruiters generally during non-instructional time.
"The board of education affirms its requirement that no recruiter will be permitted to disparage or denigrate the occupational or educational program offered by any other recruiter," said Laws.
"This resolution provides to all recruiters, including Mrs. Ferrell and N.C. Peace Action, the same recruiting opportunity that the board of education has previously provided, i.e. a forum equal to, but not greater than, that provided to other recruiters, including military recruiters. Contrary to the assertions by Mrs. Ferrell and N.C. Peace Action, the board of education's policies did not place on them any restriction that did not also apply to all other recruiters. The accusations that Mrs. Ferrell and N.C. Peace Action were not granted equal status are vigorously disputed as untrue and unfounded," he said.
"The board of education will not permit Mrs. Ferrell, N. C. Peace Action, or any other recruiter to present false or misleading information to students and will not permit any person or organization to use the opportunity to present information regarding post secondary education or occupational opportunities as a forum to present political views to attack any other educational or occupational program, including specifically the opportunities provided by the United States armed forces."
The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation filed the suit on behalf of N.C. Peace Action and N.C. Peace Action members Sally Ferrell and Bill Towe, who is state coordinator of the organization.
The suit sought court action requiring equal access for N.C. Peace Action representatives and that they be allowed to provide information on military service and alternatives to military service to Wilkes high school students in the schools. It also asked for court action declaring that N.C. Peace Action representatives are entitled to present truthful, job-related information about military careers, including their disadvantages.
The suit claimed military recruiters have long been permitted access to students in Wilkes high schools to provide information on military careers, but that Laws and members of the Wilkes school board repeatedly refused N.C. Peace Action's request for meaningful access to offer truthful, job-related information on the same topic, in violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.
Attorney Charles Johnson of Charlotte said in a letter to Wilkes school board attorney Fred Johnson of Mount Airy that a Wilkes school board policy violated N.C. Peace Action's First Amendment right to free speech by preventing the organization from helping students evaluate military vs. non-military career opportunities.
Fred Johnson said in an interview last year after receiving the letter that four brochures Ms. Ferrell distributed the previous school year at some of the Wilkes high schools violated a school policy for organizations wanting to recruit students for post-secondary education, employment or educational opportunities. He said that under another school policy, Ms. Ferrell could leave the brochures in question at the school so they could be placed on a table for student viewing—without her being there.
In a letter to Charles Johnson, Fred Johnson quoted a portion of a school board policy to explain why Ms. Ferrell couldn't give out the four brochures while she talked to students at the high schools. The policy states, "Recruiters may not discourage students from entering, or otherwise denigrate a specific educational program, educational institution, career or job opportunity."
Fred Johnson's letter identified the four brochures as "Sgt. Abe the Honest Recruiter Explains the Enlistment/Re-enlistment Document," "Ten Points to Consider Before You Sign a Military Enlistment Agreement," "Joining the Military is Hazardous to Your Education" and "Do You Know Enough to Enlist?"
Laws said the key point is that Ms. Ferrell and N.C. Peace Action wish to verbally share information with high school students at the schools that is critical of the military. He said the school policy on recruitment of students for career opportunities doesn't allow this type of verbal criticism, whether it's against the military, a certain college or other career option.
Ms. Ferrell said she was visiting Wilkes Central High School in September 2007 after already going to the other Wilkes high schools that month when the principal told her she couldn't distribute the four brochures while speaking to students. Ms. Ferrell said she removed all but brochures about the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps.
Ms. Ferrell said that when she called about visiting the high schools in November or December 2007, high school principals told her Laws stated she couldn't do so due to the brochures in question. "They have said they don't want us to mention the military at all, but I feel we should be able to," she said.
The policy in question was developed after the ACLU contacted Laws on behalf of people wanting to provide students information on military service alternatives.
The policy says the school board "acknowledges the legal requirement that if military recruiters are permitted to have access to students on campus, equal access must be provided to organizations that wish to present alternatives to military service, such as the Peace Corps and Americorps." It says this equal access doesn't apply to individuals or ad hoc collections of individuals.
Under the policy, organizations must have some degree of established form and ongoing public purpose to be allowed at schools. The policy says recruiting activities that interfere with traditional school programs won't be permitted.
The ACLU press release quoted Ms. Ferrell as saying, "I explained to the superintendent that my approach was not anti-military; nevertheless, I was continually denied access to speak with students in our local high schools who were being aggressively recruited by the military. I am glad the schools have finally recognized N.C. Peace Action's First Amendment right to express our viewpoint, and I look forward to providing truthful, job-related information about military careers—and alternatives to careers in the military—in all Wilkes County high schools."
An ACLU press release said that after the school board repeatedly refused Ms. Ferrell's request to distribute literature and to speak with students, the ACLU intervened on Ms. Ferrell's behalf, and for a short time, the school district allowed her to provide information to the students as a representative of N.C. Peace Action.
"Students reported that they were pleased to receive the information from Ms. Ferrell and N.C. Peace Action about opportunities with Job Corps and AmeriCorps and expressed appreciation that different points of view were allowed to be expressed. Nevertheless, the superintendent soon rescinded her access to the schools, and the ACLU filed a lawsuit in Wilkes County Superior Court on Jan. 5, 2009," the ACLU press release stated. |
|
|
|
|
