It’s that time of year again. Even though it’s an “odd year” in the election cycle, chances are, there is a candidate for a local office campaigning for your vote, or working on some issue that is before your community. From the perspective of candidates and signature gatherers, school events could be a great opportunity to gather support. It raises the question of how school districts respond if someone would like to campaign or gather signatures on school property.  

Must a district allow candidates to campaign and community members to collect signatures at school events, like football games?   

The answer to the question depends on what kind of forum for speech the district has created at such a school event, based on policy or practice. Just because an event is on school property, which is public property, does not mean that someone has the type of expansive free speech rights there that they would, say, on a sidewalk in front of city hall.   

Generally, a school district has the authority to maintain a nonpublic forum on its property and at its events, meaning that it could restrict the public from handing out leaflets or collecting petition signatures. However, if a district, either by policy or practice, opens a forum up for expression, it must take care to apply that policy or practice in a way that is not unlawful, such as only stopping expression when its administrators disagree with the particular leaflets or petition.    

How can a district make sure they are not violating the law? 

#1 – Have an effective, districtwide policy ahead of time.  

#2 – Apply the policy equally, every time.  

Why is a policy important?  

A person campaigning for office or speaking with others and asking for their signature for a ballot initiative is most likely exercising their First Amendment free speech rights. School districts, as government entities, must be careful to ensure that the policy is viewpoint-neutral as it relates to any restrictions they may put in place.  Having an effective policy in place ahead of time helps to ensure that administrators make good decisions when faced with a possibly contentious situation. It also helps shield the school district from significant legal liability and a potentially serious public relations problem.   

Bottom Line:  

Districts should work with their policy providers and/or legal counsel to have effective policies set ahead of time, and then administrators should be prepared to follow that policy consistently.   

If you have questions about this, please contact your district’s legal counsel or the MASB Legal Team.