Student Speakers at Non-Graduation Events
The school hereby creates a limited public forum for student speakers at all school events at which a student is to publicly speak. For each speaker, the school shall set a maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the occasion. Student speakers shall introduce:
- athletic events designated by the school;
- opening announcements and greetings for the school day; and/or
- any additional events designated by the school, which may include, without limitation, assemblies, and pep rallies.
The forum shall be limited in the manner provided by this section.
Only those students in the highest two grade levels of the school and who hold one of the following positions of honor based on neutral criteria are eligible to use the limited public forum: student council officers, class officers of the highest grade level in the school, captains of the school’s sports teams, and other students holding positions of honor as the school may designate.
An eligible student shall be notified of the student’s eligibility, and a student who wishes to participate as an introducing speaker shall submit the student’s name to the school office during an announced period of not less than three days. The announced period may be at the beginning of the school year, at the end of the preceding school year so student speakers are in place for the new year, or, if the selection process will be repeated each semester, at the beginning of each semester, or at the end of the preceding semester, so speakers are in place for the next semester. The names of the volunteering student speakers shall be randomly drawn until all names have been selected, and the names shall be listed in the order drawn. Each selected student will be matched chronologically to the event for which the student will be giving the introduction. Each student may speak for one week at a time for all introductions of events that week, rotate after each speaking event, or otherwise as determined by the school. The list of student speakers shall be chronologically repeated as needed, in the same order. The school may repeat the selection process each semester rather than once a year.
The subject of the student introductions must be related to the purpose of the event and to the purpose of marking the opening of the event, honoring the occasion, the participants, and those in attendance, bringing the audience to order, and focusing the audience on the purpose of the event. The subject must be designated, a student must stay on the subject, and the student may not engage in obscene, vulgar, offensively lewd, or indecent speech.
For as long as there is a need to dispel confusion over the non-sponsorship of the student’s speech at each event in which a student will deliver an introduction, a disclaimer shall be stated in written or oral form, or both, such as,
The student giving the introduction for this event is a volunteering student selected on neutral criteria to introduce the event. The content of the introduction is the private expression of the student and does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position, or expression of the school.
Certain students who have attained special positions of honor in the school have traditionally addressed school audiences from time to time as a tangential component of their achieved positions of honor, such as the captains of various sports teams, student council officers, class officers, homecoming kings and queens, prom kings and queens, and the like, and have attained their positions based on neutral criteria. Nothing in this policy eliminates the continuation of the practice of having these students, irrespective of grade level, address school audiences in the normal course of their respective positions. The school shall create a limited public forum for the speakers and shall treat a student’s voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject in the same manner the school treats a student’s voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint on an otherwise permissible subject and may not discriminate against the student based on a religious viewpoint expressed by the student on an otherwise permissible subject.
Student Speakers at Graduation
The school hereby creates a limited public forum consisting of an opportunity for a student to speak to begin graduation ceremonies and another student to speak to end graduation ceremonies. For each speaker, the school shall set a maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the occasion.
The forum shall be limited in the manner provided by this section.
Only students who are graduating and who hold one of the following neutral criteria positions of honor shall be eligible to use the limited public forum: student council officers, class officers of the graduating class, the top three academically ranked graduates, or a shorter or longer list of student leaders as the school may designate. A student who will otherwise have a speaking role in the graduation ceremonies is ineligible to give the opening and closing remarks. The names of the eligible volunteering students will be randomly drawn. The first name drawn will give the opening and the second name drawn will give the closing.
The topic of the opening and closing remarks must be related to the purpose of the graduation ceremony and to the purpose of marking the opening and closing of the event, honoring the occasion, the participants, and those in attendance, bringing the audience to order, and focusing the audience on the purpose of the event.
In addition to the students giving the opening and closing remarks, certain other students who have attained special positions of honor based on neutral criteria, including, without limitation, the valedictorian, will have speaking roles at graduation ceremonies. For each speaker, the school shall set a maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the occasion and to the position held by the speaker. For this purpose, the school creates a limited public forum for these students to deliver the addresses. The subject of the addresses must be related to the purpose of the graduation ceremony, marking and honoring the occasion, honoring the participants and those in attendance, and the student’s perspective on purpose, achievement, life, school, graduation, and looking forward to the future.
The subject must be designated for each student speaker, the student must stay on the subject, and the student may not engage in obscene, vulgar, offensively lewd, or indecent speech. The school shall treat a student’s voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject in the same manner the school treats a student’s voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint on an otherwise permissible subject and may not discriminate against the student based on a religious viewpoint expressed by the student on an otherwise permissible subject.
A written disclaimer shall be printed in the graduation program that states:
The students who will be speaking at the graduation ceremony were selected based on neutral criteria to deliver messages of the students’ own choices. The content of each student speaker’s message is the private expression of the individual student and does not reflect any position or expression of the school; the school’s employees, administration, or board of trustees; or the views of any other graduate. The contents of these messages were prepared by the student volunteers, and the school refrained from any interaction with student speakers regarding the student speakers’ viewpoints on permissible subjects.