Policy 1005.08
Relations Between Public and School Personnel
The Board recognizes that teachers and other employees of the District have a dual role in their relations with the public which complicates decisions from time to time concerning responsibility.
Teachers, especially, may have to decide between their responsibilities as professionals employed by the school system on the one hand or as members of the community on the other when differences of opinion arise concerning goals or operations of the school.
The Board believes that the First Amendment rights of teachers and other employees must be protected. The Board also believes that the District and Board should not be subject to unfair, comments from employees.
To help achieve those two goals, the Board instructs the administration to confer and work with staff members in setting up a carefully designed procedure for handling differences of opinion between Board and staff which will have at a minimum the following characteristics:
1. Protect and guarantee each employee’s First Amendment rights.
2. Set guidelines for assisting teachers in distinguishing between their professional employee responsibilities and their personal responsibilities.
3. Establish procedures for handling grievances.
4. Provide for channels of communication within the District to enable employees to have access to policy positions of the Board, regulations of the administration, and timely notification of events and pertinent facts.
Approved: October 12, 1992
Revised: December 11, 1995
Revised: September 11, 2006