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School Board News Bulletin
May 2001

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Leininger tabs spring 2003 as time for formula reform

April referendum success rate is excellent

IASB President, four others On IASB Board of Directors are lame ducks

Energy deregulation won’t impact Illinois like California

District to host public forums on changing ‘Redskins’ name

Schools face serious shortage of principals

Attorneys cooperate to help schools follow special ed regulations

Truancy prevention efforts expanded by regional superintendents

Nutty school crafts could trigger serious allergy problems

FEDERAL UPDATE

Corey H. lawsuit expected to reach final settlement soon

Court desegregation order for Rockford schools to end in 2002

Vouchers defeated, feds set to seize greater control of schools

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

Bill would permit asthmatic kids to carry prescription inhalers at school

Double-digit health premium increase threatens teachers

THE NATIONAL SCENE

Requirements for substitute teachers eased

NSBA’s Delegate Assembly elects new president

RESEARCH REPORTS

Complainers deemed most likely to seek input in schools

Smaller K-3 class size increases test scores for years to come

Smaller class size also matters in L.A.

Kids overexposed to day care more likely to bully others

NEWS FROM IASB

Board leadership opportunities coming soon

School Code supplement, CD available now

IASB’s Selbee discusses school policy on CBS Morning Show

Delegate Assembly resolutions invited

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

CLASSIFIED ADS

Robert Leininger, state superintendent of education 1988-94, and chairman of the Education Funding Advisory Board, spoke May 4 at the general session of the Illinois Association of School Administrators' conference.

Think spring; spring 2003 to be exact. That will be the next - and possibly the last - time that a major change in the school funding formula will be considered by state lawmakers, according to former state superintendent of education Robert Leininger.

Leininger, who heads a blue ribbon panel studying reform of the general state aid formula, told school administrators at their annual conference on May 4 that it will be a hard-sell proposition. But he is convinced that legislative redistricting, which takes effect in legislative elections in November 2002, could position school officials to assert their collective influence in the process.

The general state aid formula, which is due to expire at the end of June, is based on a current foundation level of $4,425 per student per district.

Whatever formula is developed, Leininger said it has to withstand "whoever runs for anything."

In response to a question from the audience of 200-plus superintendents at the conference, Leininger said schools cannot wait for lawmakers to develop alternatives for school revenues. "Don't depend on them to solve this problem. We have to solve it and sell it to them," he said.

Leininger was referring in part to the roadblock represented by the upcoming battle over total statewide legislative redistricting. The November 2000 general election was the final time that lawmakers could be elected in the legislative districts they currently represent. After 2000 decennial census figures are finalized, all Illinois lawmakers' district boundaries will be redrawn, with majority party leaders having the biggest say in where the new lines are drawn.

Such redistricting is required every ten years to meet the state's one-man, one-vote constitutional requirement. The problem redistricting presents for school funding reform, however, is that "legislators are uncomfortable addressing controversial subjects like school funding while running for re-election in newly formed districts," an Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance lobbyist explained.

Despite repeated attempts to make a major overhaul of the general foundation formula, Leininger said schools have failed to develop a plan that offers "equity" and not just "parity."

"Why haven't we done anything for the last 30 years?" he asked rhetorically. "We're unique; we're lousy, and it's time to do something about it!"

Another major player in the discussions has been the Illinois Business Roundtable, whom Leininger said should be called upon for support. In exchange for that support, however, he said school officials should expect to make some concessions of their own, involving:

• Property tax classification.
• Open enrollment.
• Year-round schools.
• Teacher salary schedules.
• Consolidation and reorganization.
• Downstate property tax rates.

Brenda Holmes, lobbyist for the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance who introduced Leininger, added that redistricting will increase Chicago's suburban representation in Springfield, which is another factor influencing various funding schemes.

The Education Funding Advisory Board, which made its first report to the General Assembly in January, will make additional recommendations in January 2003. Future issues facing EFAB include: categorical funding, technology, budget flexibility, property assessments, property taxes, and the state's share of school funding.

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Final results of the April 3 general election show voters approved only 10 of 30 education fund tax proposals, not the 11 of 30 reported in April. Contrary to initial reports, the tax proposition in Fremont District 79 did not pass.

As reported, voters approved two of three operations and maintenance fund questions. The combined 36 percent success rate for tax proposals was roughly on par with the 35 percent mean average success rate in school referendums since 1989.

Local voters also approved 33 of 47 building bond proposals in April - not 32 of 47 as reported in April - and rejected the only working cash bond proposal on the ballot. Contrary to unofficial reports, a $1.2 million building bond referendum in Red Bud District 132 was approved April 3.

The 70 percent success rate for building bond proposals was among the best in recent history. Only one April election of the past decade produced better results for bond questions, namely the April 1999 election, which produced a 71 percent success rate. (See attached chart of recent bond election results.)

Among the referendums approved, the largest tax rate increase was the 95-cent education fund increase in Plano C.U. District 88, followed by the 92-cent increase approved in Durand District 322.

The largest bond referendum to pass was the $24.8 million building bond issue in Maercker District 60, Clarendon Hills, followed by the $22 million building bond issue in Marengo Community High School District 154.

In addition to the many that passed, some of the referendums defeated April 3 failed by a narrow margin, including one in Kenilworth District 38. There the margin of defeat was one vote, as the proposed 38-cent increase per hundred dollars of assessed valuation failed on a tie vote, 420-420.

Kenilworth Superintendent Linda Murphy said a recount has already been performed, but it failed to find any errors in the count. The district is faced with extensive layoffs and cuts, Murphy adds.

The operations fund tax referendum in Prairie Hills Elementary District 144, Hazel Crest, fell just 43 votes short, on a vote of 1,728-1,770. The Cook County district had proposed a 30-cent increase in the tax rate per hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

Other districts suffering the defeat of tax increase proposals were Shelbyville C.U. District 4; Prospect Heights District 23; Glenview C.C. District 34; Mt. Prospect District 57; Niles Elementary District 71; Mannheim District 83, Franklin Park; Aurora West District 129; Central C.U. District 301, Burlington; Prairie Grove District 46, Crystal Lake; Mundelein Elementary District 75; Lake Zurich C.U. District 95; Antioch Community High School District 117; Grayslake Community High School District 127; Barrington District 220; Edwardsville C.U. District 7; Braceville District 75; and Homer C.C. District 33-C, Lockport.

School districts that had bond propositions defeated were Silvis District 34; Sheldon C.U. District 5 (which had placed the lone working cash bond issue on the ballot); Mattoon C.U. District 2; South Central C.U. District 401, Kinmundy; North Boone C.U. District 200, Poplar Grove; Hinckley-Big Rock C.U. District 429; Aurora West District 129; Kaneland C.U. District 302, Maple Grove; Harvard C.U. District 50; Grayslake C.U. District 127; Alton C.U. District 11; Pontiac-William Holliday District 105, Fairview Heights; Dimmick C.C. District 175; Richland District 88A; and Wilmington C.U. District 209-U.

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IASB President Dennis McConville, along with IASB Wabash Valley Division director Roy Midgett, failed to win re-election locally in April. McConville may not be leaving the IASB Board, though. His term runs until November, and because IASB Immediate Past President Jerry Eiffert plans to leave the board in November, Dennis McConville would become Immediate Past President.

In addition, two other members of the current board will leave their IASB posts in November, having chosen not to run in their local elections: Karen Bremmer (Northwest Division), and Elizabeth Eichelberger (Three Rivers Division).

Together these five individuals have 46 years of combined service on the IASB Board. "These individuals have served their Divisions well and have been excellent contributing members of the Board," adds IASB Executive Director Michael Johnson.

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While Illinois should expect higher energy prices over the next few years, the state shouldn't experience the deregulation pain and rolling blackouts that have hit California.

That was the assessment from Louie Ervin, executive vice president of Latham & Associates, P.C., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, during a presentation on the Illinois Energy Consortium at this year's IASA annual conference in Springfield.

Ervin said Illinois will add 19 million kilowatts of new energy capacity, some with generating plants that will be fueled by natural gas, to meet expanding energy needs. Within the next three to five years, more natural gas will flow from Canada through additional high-pressure pipelines.

With the year-old IEC, a cooperative power buying effort for schools organized by IASA, the Illinois Association of School Boards and the Illinois Association of School Business Officials, school districts have a plan in place that should result in lower energy prices - in most instances.

Kristi Fitzanko of CILCO, IEC program administrator, said consortium members who are Commonwealth Edison and Ameren/CIPS customers, as well as those with smaller power companies in the state, have been able to realize power bill savings during the past year. Savings efforts have not been as successful for Illinois Power customers, who aired complaints during the panel session.

Fitzanko said a combination of factors, including IP's insistence on changing certain calculation rates every other month and 15 percent energy reserves, has left some districts paying more through the consortium than if they had dealt with IP directly.

Currently, from the larger power providers, the IEC services 120 districts (314 schools) in Com Ed areas, 76 districts (240 schools) in Ameren/CIPS areas and 55 districts (196 schools) that are IP customers.

For more information on joining the consortium, contact Judy Sharp at 815/753-9305 or e-mail her at Jsharp@niu.edu.

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The Ball-Chatham C.U. District 5 school board will host multiple public forums in the months ahead to gather input on whether to change the name "Redskins" for its high school athletic teams. Activists say the name is disrespectful.

Possible new names are to be discussed, along with the whole question of whether to keep the present name, said Superintendent Rick Taylor.

The board set August as a possible date for voting on the issue. Taylor and Board President Jim Neuses said the upcoming forums were initiated in part because of an April 13 report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The report urged abandoning the use of Indian names and mascots by non-Indian schools, and suggested such use may violate federal laws against discrimination.

Source: Illinois State Journal-Register, "'Redskins' Reconsidered in Chatham," April 24, 2001.

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About one-third of the 4,100 principals in Illinois are expected to retire by 2005, said a recent survey by the Illinois Principals Association. What is more, fewer of today's rising young educators want the job.

Too-long hours and too-low pay are seen as negative components of the job. In many schools the disparity in pay between veteran administrators and teachers has narrowed, offering less inducement for teachers to trade a nine-month job for a year-round one.

Source: "High Schools Wonder: Who Will Lead?," Chicago Tribune, April 20, 2001.

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An unprecedented cooperative effort by school attorneys is coming to the rescue of Illinois school districts to help them avoid the reams of red tape they anticipated in meeting new requirements for continued special education funding. The effort, led by the Illinois Council of School Attorneys (ICSA), is in response to a June 15 state deadline for local districts to submit revised special education policies and procedures.

Recent changes in federal law and regulations require each local school district to adopt special ed policies, procedures and programs consistent with state policies and procedures. The ISBE informed districts in January that the deadline for all districts to send in copies of these revisions is June 15, 2001.

Fortunately for school districts around the state, ICSA has negotiated a reprieve from that deadline for all districts that request a time extension. ICSA has prepared and mailed to school district special ed directors a fill-in-the-blanks form letter they may send to ISBE to request a deadline extension to September 15, 2001.

Later this month ICSA's special education committee and IASB's Policy Services (PRESS) will distribute a sample special education policy that will enable districts to meet the new state and federal requirements.

Members of the ICSA special education committee also are preparing a procedural framework districts and cooperatives can use by simply inserting their own procedures. This will be distributed in early August.

Meanwhile, the state has said it expects all policies and procedures to be submitted by the state-approved director of special education for the school district or joint agreement. Any joint agreement district may elect to prepare its own policies and procedures, in lieu of adopting the ones prepared by a joint agreement agency. But, in doing so, the district's materials must be submitted to the ISBE through the state-approved director.

Contrary to its previously announced requirements, according to ICSA, the state now has agreed that no policy or procedure with respect to public participation needs to be adopted. Nor must the school district or special education joint agreement (co-op) submit its policies and procedures to a public participation process - yet another state requirement that has been withdrawn, according to ICSA. While the ISBE does not intend to issue a retraction of the item, the state has confirmed that the submission of policies and procedures that do not conform to or contain this item will be accepted.

Finally, the ISBE has confirmed it will accept the submission of policies and procedures that do not conform to or contain the "Special Education Review Checklist." In January special education directors were sent this 75-page checklist, along with a directive for conforming to it.

This dreaded checklist identifies all federal and state requirements that must be addressed in the district policies and procedures.

For more information, e-mail Melinda Selbee at mselbee@iasb.com.

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Truancy is called the number one predictor of a life of lost potential. Truancy is, for example, a first step toward dropping out of school. What is more, according to the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, a recent survey of Illinois prison demographics revealed that a huge majority of inmates are school dropouts.

No wonder regional superintendents across the state are becoming increasingly proactive in the fight against truancy. Truancy and Optional Education Programs are now administered in 34 Regional Offices of Education. Some are operated in partnership with other Regional Offices of Education, for a total involvement of 42 ROEs in such programs.

One such program, operated by Iroquois/Kankakee Regional Office of Education (I-KAN ROE) 32, recently won national attention when the program administrator won the National Dropout Prevention Award. Marie Cardosi, a 20-year veteran of truancy battles, was one of five individuals in the entire country so recognized.

Another program, administered by Hamilton/Jefferson Counties ROE 25, was established in August 2000. It requires that a Regional Truancy Advisory Panel review extreme truancy cases. The panel is made up of ROE representatives, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, the Mt. Vernon City Police, the Jefferson County State's Attorneys' Office, and various social service agencies.

For more information, contact: Kay Pangle, Regional Superintendent, I-KAN ROE, phone 815/937-2950; or Paul E. Cross, Regional Superintendent, Hamilton/Jefferson Counties ROE, phone 618/244-8040.

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Many children allergic to peanuts and tree nuts such as walnuts or cashews may successfully avoid eating tainted sandwiches or other contaminated foods. Yet they risk exposure to severe allergens from a seemingly unlikely source - school arts and crafts projects, according to a recent study.

Researchers note that the rate of accidental reactions could be reduced if schools would follow recommendations of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. The recommendations urge meal supervision, staff training, and a ban on food sharing. The study was released in latest issue of The Journal of Pediatrics (Volume 138, pages 560-565). Source: Reuters online, "Crafts may put kids at risk of allergic reactions," May 10, 2001.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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Calling all board members! This is to remind you there are three Motorola-School Board Institute workshops remaining this year and you still have time to sign up for one. The next Leadership for the 21st Century workshop is:

The final two workshops are:

For information or to register contact Cynthia Woods or Bridget Trojan at IASB, extension 1228 or 1236.

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IASB is taking orders for the 2001 Supplement to the School Code of Illinois, which comes with an updated CD-ROM containing the full contents of the 2001 Illinois School Code and Related Acts. The CD carries versions for both PC Windows and Apple Macintosh and has case annotations, cross-references, and other notes.

The 2001 Supplement is priced at $15 for IASB members. Licenses to use the 2001 CD on a local area network are $5 per workstation. For more information, call IASB Publications, ext. 1108.

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Melinda Selbee, IASB's staff attorney, was interviewed in the Lombard office on Tuesday, April 17 for the CBS Morning Show with Bryant Gumbel. The news segment addressed the topic of so-called zero tolerance policies.

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The deadline for member school boards to submit resolutions to be considered by the IASB Delegate Assembly is fast approaching. Copies of the resolution submission form are available by calling the association at extension 1132. Proposals from active member school boards may be submitted for 1) new IASB resolutions; 2) amendments to existing position statements; or 3) reaffirmations of existing position statements.

The annual IASB Delegate Assembly functions as a major policy-setting mechanism of your Association. Each assembly is made up of delegates chosen by IASB member school boards to represent them (each board is entitled to send one delegate). Delegates assemble at the association's annual conference to vote on resolutions submitted by member districts to set policy for IASB for the coming year.

The submission deadline this year is June 21, 2001. Resolutions are welcome at any time prior to the deadline, however, and earlier submission will allow the staff to better serve member districts by preparing adequate background materials for the resolution committee.

A resolutions committee of at least seven individuals is appointed from among the membership of the association each year by the president of IASB to review resolution proposals submitted by member districts. The committee is empowered to recommend the approval or disapproval of proposed resolutions, and to determine which resolutions are presented to the delegate assembly.

Decisions of the resolutions committee may be appealed by member districts, but such appeals must be submitted in writing to the committee at least eight days before the Delegate Assembly's annual meeting.

IASB sent a letter April 3 to board presidents and district superintendents asking boards to submit resolutions, along with forms for that purpose. For information, contact your division representative to the Resolutions Committee (a list of these representatives also was included in the April 3 mailing) or contact IASB Governmental Relations, ext. 1132.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Most school board members say they have positive relationships with superintendents and community organizations, according to the findings of a survey on public engagement issues. But board meetings seem to attract mostly those members of the public with something to complain about.

The report, Just Waiting to Be Asked? A Fresh Look at Attitudes on Public Engagement, was conducted by Public Agenda, with assistance from NSBA. Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization based in New York City.

A summary is available online at http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/pubengage/pubengage.htm

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Students taught in smaller classes in early grades get higher math test scores years later, according to a new Tennessee study of whether decreasing class size can improve education.

Source: Reuters online, May 7, 2001. For more information visit the Web site at http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010507/hl/study_1.html.

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A study from Vital Search found that class size boosts student learning in Los Angeles classrooms. Researchers from the Los Angeles-based firm presented their preliminary findings at an April meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

They examined test scores of 20,000 students who were enrolled in third grade in the 1998-1999 school year, two years after the state set policy to reduce class size in kindergarten through third grade to about 20 students. They then compared the test scores with the scores of students in third grade during the 1996-1997 school year, which was the last year before the small-class-size mandate.

For more information, visit the Los Angeles Unified School District Web site at http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us. Source: National Education Goals Panel, The NEGP Weekly, May 4, 2001.

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Children spending long hours in day care are more likely to become bullies by age four and a half than other children, according to a newly released study.

The findings have not yet been published. A summary was released April 19 in Minneapolis at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research and Child Development. Source: "Study Says Prolonged Day Care Creates Bullies," Reuters News Service, April 19, 2001.

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FEDERAL UPDATE

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Illinois special education teachers may have two certification options to choose from under a revised special education certification proposal forwarded to a federal judge April 30 as part of the Corey H. lawsuit.

The State Board of Education presented its final certification proposal to a court monitor overseeing the suit. The state asked federal Judge Robert Gettleman to let the parties consider several recommended revisions.

The newest proposal is based in part on information gleaned at eight public hearings held throughout the state in March and April. Comments were sought on the transition rules governing implementation of the special ed certification system.

The biggest change would replace "Learning Behavior Specialist I" - an endorsement widely criticized as being overly broad - with a split LBS credential.

Corey H., filed in federal court in 1992, alleged that the Chicago public school system and Illinois State Board of Education failed to ensure that disabled students were properly placed in "least restrictive environment" as federal special ed laws require. Chicago schools settled their portion of the suit before trial. The state board, however, went to trial in 1997 and the court ruled against it.

But the court suspended implementation of the new standards the judge had ordered to allow public hearings.

Source: Illinois State Board of Education news release, May 1, 2001; and notes from the May 4 general session of IASA's spring conference.

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Federal desegregation orders governing Rockford District 205 must end in 2002, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled April 18.

The three-judge appellate panel of Richard Posner, William Bauer and Michael Kanne reversed a ruling of U.S. Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney. Judge Mahoney had ruled in August that federal oversight should continue until at least 2006.

The decision follows more than 12 years of litigation that resulted from court-documented instances of discrimination against black and Hispanic students. The court case and intervention reportedly have cost the district an estimated $238 million over the past 12 years.

Source: "Court control of schools to end in 2002," Rockford Register Star, April 18, 2001.

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Legislation is advancing in Congress to give Washington considerably more oversight of student academic achievement, after the House Education Committee voted May 2 to ditch a voucher plan.

Source: "Ed.Net Briefs," April 30, 2001, Simpson Communications.

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DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

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by Melinda Selbee, IASB's general counsel

Limiting student speech that sabotages the learning environment, Part I

Here's some summer homework for board members: begin a conversation with both your superintendent and the community on the promotion of acceptable standards of classroom conduct. This will necessarily include what is a "safe" school, what is unsuitable conduct, and how to cultivate civility among students. Board policies should be examined to see if they reflect the answers. The superintendent should be asked about the implementation of the board's policies, for information on student discipline procedures and practices, and for data on misconduct. Meanwhile, the community, with knowledge about this quest, can provide input.

In this post-Columbine, electronic-saturated era, it is no longer adequate to have board policies that only penalize students for disruptive or violent conduct. Now, school officials must ask how to prevent such conduct. While maintaining order and promoting acceptable standards of conduct are pivotal, school officials must still respect students' constitutional rights. Seeing speech as a precursor to action, school officials limit student speech that is obscene, threatening, abusive, harassing, or counter-productive. One constitutional right most frequently butts against this effort - the students' right of free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

The tension between efforts to regulate student speech and students' free speech rights can be seen in many recent court decisions. These cases suggest methods for school officials to proceed - and methods to curtail. They also illustrate how balancing school safety interests and students' free speech rights is extremely difficult, complex, and fact-sensitive.

The First Amendment prevents wholesale content-based suppression of student speech by public schools. A trilogy of U.S. Supreme Court decisions gives us the framework in which to analyze the extent student speech may be regulated. This trilogy begins with Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969). Students in this case challenged their suspensions for wearing black armbands protesting the Vietnam War. In this decision, the Court first uttered the now often paraphrased maxim: students and teachers do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate. The court said, "undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression." School officials may regulate student speech only when the speech would substantially disrupt or interfere with school purposes or the rights of other students.

The second U.S. Supreme Court decision in this trilogy is Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986). There the Court upheld a student's suspension for making a lewd nominating speech before the student body. Among his innuendoes was that his candidate was "firm, firm in his pants." The Court recognized that schools "may determine that the essential lessons of civil, mature conduct cannot be conveyed in a school that tolerates lewd, indecent, or offensive speech."

The final high court decision in this trilogy is Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988). There, students challenged the principal's suppression of student-written articles for the school-sponsored newspaper. The articles were on teen pregnancy and children of divorced parents. The Court upheld the principal's action saying that the school could exercise control over student speech in school-sponsored activities as long as its actions are legitimately related to pedagogical concerns.

Using the analysis from this Tinker-Fraser-Hazelwood trilogy, courts across the country review school officials' efforts to promote a learning environment by prohibiting counter-productive student speech. Of course, not only the learning environment needs protection, but also the students. Judges in post-Columbine decisions generally recognize the acutely difficult position school officials face. Distinguishing between childish boorishness and serious threats is sometimes difficult, at best.

A principal's refusal to allow a student to wear Marilyn Manson T-shirts was upheld last year in Boroff v. Van Wert City Board of Education, 220 F.3d 465 (6th Cir. 2000). The school's dress code prohibited "clothing with offensive illustrations, drug, alcohol, or tobacco slogans." The principal believed the Marilyn Manson T-shirts were offensive and told Nicholas, a high school senior, he could not wear one to school. The principal offered Nicholas an option: either turn the T-shirt inside-out or leave school and be considered truant. Nicholas left. Nicholas continued to wear a seemingly endless supply of Marilyn Manson T-shirts to school; the principal continued to not permit Nicholas to attend school. This standoff ended when Nicholas filed suit alleging the school violated his First Amendment right of free expression by its refusal to allow him to wear the T-shirts.

The school presented evidence that the Marilyn Manson T-shirts were antagonistic to the school district's educational mission. Marilyn Manson is the stage name for a "goth" rock performer. Members of his band took their first names from a celebrity (e.g., Marilyn Monroe) and their last names from a serial killer (e.g., Charles Manson). The band promotes destructive conduct and demoralizing values. The principal testified that Marilyn Manson T-shirts could reasonably be considered a promotion for the views espoused by Marilyn Manson in his lyrics. These lyrics include such lines as, "let's just kill everyone and let your god sort them out / I wasn't born with enough middle fingers." Said the court, "where [the student's] T-shirts contain symbols and words that promote values that are so patently contrary to the school's educational mission, the school has the authority, under the circumstances in this case, to prohibit those T-shirts."

A policy mandating school uniforms was upheld in Canady v. Bossier Parish School Board, 240 F.3d 437 (5th Cir. 2001). The Louisiana Legislature granted school boards the discretion to implement a mandatory uniform policy, provided the school board gave parents written notice. Illinois has a similar law. Students were typically given a choice of two colors of polo shirts or oxford shirts and navy or khaki pants.

Filing a lawsuit in federal court, students charged that the mandatory uniform policy violated their free speech rights. The school district initially asserted that clothing choices are not "speech." The court disagreed saying:

A person's choice of clothing is infused with intentional expression on many levels. ... A student may choose to wear shirts or jackets with written messages supporting political candidates or important social issues. ... Clothing may also symbolize ethnic heritage, religious beliefs, and political and social views. ...Finally, students in particular often choose their attire with the intention to signify the social group to which they belong, their participation in different activities, and their general attitudes toward society and the school environment.

However, the case was not over. The court found the U.S. Supreme Court's trilogy inapplicable because the uniform policy was content-neutral. Thus, the court applied a lower standard of review: the policy should be sustained if it furthers an important or substantial governmental interest. Here, improving the educational process was undoubtedly and unquestionably an important and substantial governmental interest.

Note: The June Newsbulletin will contain Part II of this column, discussing how courts have applied the Tinker-Fraser-Hazelwood trilogy to the facts in recent cases, and how school officials can enforce acceptable standards of school conduct while respecting student rights.

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LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

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Students inflicted with asthma should be allowed to carry prescription inhaler medications with them at school, the Illinois House decided May 3.

Senate Bill 979, sponsored by Senator Kathleen K. Parker (R., Northbrook), passed the House unanimously. It would permit students in public and private schools to carry and administer their own asthma inhaler medication. The student's physician and parents would have to grant written permission, however, which would be kept on file at school.

In Illinois roughly 200,000 kids have asthma, and the disease is the number one cause of school absenteeism nationwide, according to the state chapter of the American Lung Association, which lobbied for the bill.

Schools already are allowed by law to permit students to possess and administer their asthma inhalers, but students are generally required by school policy to leave their medication with the school nurse or another adult.

Sample policy 7:270 of IASB's Policy Reference Manual encourages school boards to set policies permitting students to self-administer medication under certain circumstances, with parental consent and formal written authorization. The proposed new law, however, would expand student control over such medication, freeing them to carry it rather than leave it somewhere in storage.

The bill has passed unanimously in both houses, but the Senate still must concur with a minor House amendment in order to send it to the Governor's desk.

Source: The State Journal-Register, "House passes bill allowing kids to carry asthma inhalers at school," May 4, 2001.

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Roughly 2,000 retired teachers marched on the State Capitol Building May 9 to seek help from the legislature to avert a planned 45 percent increase in their health-insurance premiums.

About 41,000 teachers and their dependents are served by the Illinois Teachers' Retirement Insurance Program, which covers most downstate teachers. Premiums for the program, which had been inching upward in recent years, now need to rise significantly to match double-digit growth in medical costs.

The Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance has supported the retired teachers in their quest to delay any double-digit premium increase while lawmakers seek a long-term solution to the problem.

Source: The State Journal-Register, "Teachers group wants health premium increase blocked," May 10, 2001.

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THE NATIONAL SCENE

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A recent Washington Post survey of over 1,000 local schools has established that students spend roughly two weeks a year with substitute teachers.

The supply of qualified teachers to fill substitute slots has dwindled as a teacher shortage and strong economy have helped prospective part-time teachers to find other jobs. As a result, many school districts have lowered their formerly tough requirements in an effort to staff all classrooms.

Source: "Schools Scramble for Substitutes," Washington Post, April 12, 2001.

Source: The Associated Press, March 14, 2001.

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At the conclusion of the Delegate Assembly during NSBA's Annual Conference in San Diego, James R. Ruhland took office as NSBA president. Ruhland is a member of the board of education of Botetourt County, in southwestern Virginia.

Source: NSBA, School Board News, April 10, 2001.

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CLASSIFIED ADS

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FOR SALE: Seven AV carts, like new condition. Price negotiable. Four Bretford 55" tall, tops are 22" x 32"; one Bretford 49" tall, top is 22" x 32"; two H. Wilson Corp. 54" tall, tops are 28" x 24". Contact: Leo Sherman, Superintendent, P.O. Box 67, Gilman, IL 60938; phone 815/ 265-7008; e-mail leos@iwcusd10.k12.il.us .

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703