Hoover schools superintendent: We don't intend to police all off-campus conduct, speech

Hoover schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy today said the school system does not intend to use a proposed change in the code of conduct to police all off-campus conduct and speech by students.

However, Murphy said the change, shared with the Hoover school board Tuesday night, would allow school officials to take disciplinary action with students whose off-campus conduct or speech substantially disrupts a school environment.

The proposal comes just two months after a video was released online showing Hoover and Spain Park high school students making racist and anti-Semitic comments in someone’s home. The video was shared broadly across the country and sparked outrage.

Murphy said then she was sad and disappointed that young people would have such attitudes but said she had no control over things people choose to do outside of the school system’s jurisdiction.

The proposed change in the code of conduct would give school officials authority to take more action.

The change 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.”

School officials also propose to spell out in the code of conduct a disciplinary option for class 3 infractions that has been in practice but not in the code: prohibiting students from attending extra-curricular activities or a graduation ceremony.

Other options for class 3 infractions already in place include placement in alternative school, expulsion, permanent removal from a school bus and revocation of technology privileges.

Take our poll about the proposed code of conduct change here.

These were only a couple of more than 20 code of conduct changes recommended by a committee of 17 people, which included teachers, counselors, principals, assistant principals, parents and central office staff.

But the changes dealing with off-campus conduct and speech have drawn significant criticism online, with many parents and other community members saying that the proposed changes are too subjective and that school officials are over-reaching and running afoul of free speech rights guaranteed in the First Amendment.

Deborah Lockridge, a parent of a Spain Park High School student, said her family was appalled by the comments made in the March video, but the students were not at school or at a school event and their comments were not connected to the school in any fashion.

“I get concerned when the school wants to police things that are not school-related,” Lockridge said. “I feel like it goes too far.”

She questioned who is going to determine whether comments made by students could be “reasonably perceived” as disparaging, insulting, degrading or demeaning. “There’s just too much gray area here that could lead to abuse,” she said.

Murphy said she certainly respects people’s First Amendment rights and that school officials do not intend to try to police things that are said and done inside people’s homes and at people’s dinner tables. She doesn’t have time to do that, nor the desire to do that, she said.

However, when students say and do things off campus that substantially disrupt the learning environment in a school, school officials should take action to address it, Murphy said.

The disparaging remarks made in the March video that circulated so widely had a huge impact on the ability of schools to have a productive day, she said. “It was a big school disruption.”

She knows school officials can’t stop all racist language that happens off campus with students, but she wants to prevent it from hurting students’ ability to get their education. And she wants to send a clear message to students, she said.

“We need to treat people with more decency and respect,” Murphy said. “Not only in the way we conduct ourselves, but in the way we talk to each other.”

She realizes the proposed change is new territory and new turf, but she wants people to understand the reasoning behind it, she said.

She hopes that putting this as a class 3 offense in the code of conduct will show how serious school officials are about this and that it will help teach students to be more thoughtful about what they do and say. “We’ve got to be better people than this,” she said. “We are not tolerant of this.”

Yes, the proposed change does have subjectivity, but you can’t anticipate everything in a rule, Murphy said. Everything is not always black and white, but great leaders are the ones who can “navigate the gray,” she said.

The proposed changes are now in the hands of the school board for its consideration, and lawyers continue to look over it as well, she said. She is willing to address any questions or concerns, and the final wording could change before it comes to a vote of the board, she said.

The idea was to present the code of conduct changes to the board this month and let school board members vote on them at the June 4 meeting.

School board President Craig Kelley said he doesn't believe the board will vote on the proposal at the June 4 meeting. "This is not going to be a hasty decision," he said.

He declined to give his view of the proposal and said board members want to listen to feedback from the public and advice from lawyers and the federal judge who is handling the decades-old Jefferson County school desegregation court case that includes Hoover City Schools.

As a school board member, he wants to make sure the board both gets the decision right and follows the spirit of the desegregation court order, he said. 

Follow this link to see the other changes proposed in the code of conduct.

This story was updated with a comment from Spain Park High School parent Deborah Lockridge at 9:22 p.m. and with a comment from Hoover school board President Craig Kelley at 3:51 p.m. on May 17.