The ACLU of Kansas stated today that it would challenge a policy in the Shawnee Mission schools that prohibits employees and teachers from wearing safety pins.
The policy applies to staff members and teachers while they are on duty, according to a statement from the district.
In the past few weeks, the wearing of a safety pin has become a symbol to show minorities they can rely on the wearer if they feel unsafe.
So far, there have been no public reports about any similar bans on safety pins in Wyandotte County. In fact, according to the ACLU, although they can’t say for certain there are not any other bans, they have not heard of any bans of safety pins anywhere else in the United States.
In a note on its website, the Shawnee Mission school district stated: “Individuals began wearing safety pins within our school communities resulting in concerns and complaints regarding political connotations associated with the wearing of safety pins.”
In a statement to teachers and staff on its website, the district said: “As a staff member, you do not give up your first amendment right to free-speech on matters of public concern. However, your communication inside the classroom on school time is considered speech on behalf of the school district and there is a limitation on that speech. The wearing of a safety pin as a political statement is the latest example of such political speech. Although wearing the safety pin as political speech is not the problem, any disruption the political statement causes in the classroom or school is a distraction in the education process.”
The ACLU sent a letter today to the Shawnee Mission school district asking it to reconsider the prohibition on staff from wearing safety pins.
“The school district’s current policy sends students a clear signal that not all students are valued or safe at school, undermines attempts to build community, and is vulnerable to a legal challenge,” the ACLU’s letter stated.
Also, a legal precedent out of Des Moines in 1969 stated that symbolic speech, such as wearing a safety pin to indicate solidarity with all students, was constitutionally protected unless it was highly disruptive or would “materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school,” the ACLU stated.
“There is no evidence that we are aware of that indicates that wearing safety pins has led to disruption of any kind,” the ACLU wrote in its letter. “Indeed, if it is actually the district’s position that it is ‘disruptive’ to symbolically state that all students can feel safe and valued, that says something deeply disturbing and harmful about the culture and orientation of Shawnee Mission School District,” the ACLU letter stated.