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The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a school district’s regulations pertaining to the distribution of religious materials by students on campus. The case is Morgan v. Plano Independent School Distric. The decision is dated December 3, 2009.

The regulations at issue permitted elementary school students to distribute materials during recess, for a half hour before and after school, at three annual parties and at designated tables during school hours. Middle and secondary school students were permitted to distribute materials at all of those times and also in the hallways and cafeteria during noninstructional time and lunch periods. Students were generally prohibited from distributing materials at all other times and places.

Several parents alleged that their children were not permitted to distribute materials that had religious content. This included pencils inscribed with “Jesus is the reason for the season,” candy canes with cards describing their Christian origin, and tickets to events at a church. The parents filed a lawsuit in federal district court, challenging the validity of the District’s policy under the First Amendment. The trial court applied the legal test for content and viewpoint-neutral regulations and found the District’s policy was narrowly tailored to achieve the significant governmental interest of “improving the educational process,” while leaving open ample alternative channels of communication. However, the court also found that the policy was unreasonably broad to the extent that it prohibited elementary school students from distributing materials during lunchtime.

On appeal, the Fifth Circuit concluded that the policy was reasonable and constitutional. The regulations were aimed at promoting a focused educational environment, which they accomplished by regulating speech during and immediately before classroom time. Similarly, restrictions on distributing materials in hallways and the cafeteria were designed to facilitate the movements of students between classes and avoid littering. These concerns are “more than invocations of an abstract educational mission”; thus, the policy was appropriately supported by a legitimate and significant governmental interest.

Regarding the policy’s application to elementary school students, the Fifth Circuit cited the District’s argument that younger children need more supervision and held that the regulation restricting elementary school students from distributing materials in the cafeteria served the powerful interest of the District in maintaining order and discipline.

With the holiday season upon us, Morgan v. Plano Independent School District is a timely and helpful reminder that districts may enforce reasonable restrictions on distribution of material by students on campus, regardless of the religious nature of such material. Look for a more thorough summary of this important decision in the Legal Developments section of the next issue of the Texas School Administrators’ Legal Digest. If you have a question about the application of this case to a specific situation, please contact your school’s attorney.