HOUSE BILL NO. 2682 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE CHAPPELL.
6425H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal section 160.2500, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to personal expression at public schools.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 160.2500, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu 2 thereof, to be known as section 160.2500, to read as follows: 160.2500. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri [Student 2 Religious Liberties] Safeguarding Personal Expression at K-12 Schools (SPEAKS) Act". 3 2. A public school district shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of a 4 religious, political, or ideological viewpoint or religious, political, or ideological 5 expression. A school district shall treat a student's voluntary expression of a religious, 6 political, or ideological viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject in the same 7 manner the district treats a student's voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint on 8 an otherwise permissible subject and shall not discriminate against the student based on a 9 religious, political, or ideological viewpoint expressed by the student on an otherwise 10 permissible subject. 11 3. Students in public schools may express their religious, political, or ideological 12 beliefs [about religion] in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free 13 from discrimination based on the religious, political, or ideological content of their 14 submissions. Homework and classroom assignments shall be judged by ordinary academic 15 standards of substance and relevance and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns 16 identified by the school district. Students shall not be penalized or rewarded on account of 17 the religious, political, or ideological content of their work. If an assignment requires a
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 2682 2
18 student's viewpoints to be expressed in course work, artwork or other written or oral 19 assignments, a public school district shall not penalize or reward a student on the basis of 20 religious, political, or ideological content or a religious, political, or ideological viewpoint. 21 In such an assignment, a student's academic work that expresses a religious, political, or 22 ideological viewpoint shall be evaluated based on ordinary academic standards of substance 23 and relevance to the course curriculum or requirements of the course work or assignment. 24 4. Students in public schools may pray or engage in religious, political, or 25 ideological activities or religious, political, or ideological expression before, during and after 26 the school day in the same manner and to the same extent that students may engage in 27 [nonreligious] other activities or expression, provided that such religious, political, or 28 ideological expression or religious, political, or ideological activities are not disruptive of 29 scheduled instructional time or other educational activities and do not impede access to 30 school facilities or mobility on school premises. Students may organize prayer groups[,]; 31 religious, political, or ideological clubs[,]; or other religious, political, or ideological 32 gatherings before, during and after school to the same extent that students are permitted to 33 organize other noncurricular student activities and groups. Religious, political, or 34 ideological groups shall be given the same access to school facilities for assembling as is 35 given to other noncurricular groups without discrimination based on the religious, political, 36 or ideological content of the student's expression. If student groups that meet for 37 nonreligious activities are permitted to advertise or announce meetings of the groups, the 38 school district shall not discriminate against groups that meet for prayer or other religious, 39 political, or ideological speech. A school district may disclaim school sponsorship of 40 noncurricular groups and events in a manner that neither favors nor disfavors groups that 41 meet to engage in prayer or religious, political, or ideological speech. 42 5. A public school shall not discriminate against a student club because of: 43 (1) The religious, political, or ideological viewpoints expressed by the students or 44 the organization; or 45 (2) Any requirement that the leaders or members of the club affirm and adhere 46 to the organization's sincerely held beliefs, comply with the organization's standards of 47 conduct, or further the organization's mission or purpose, as defined by the student 48 organization. 49 6. Students in public schools may wear clothing, accessories and jewelry that display 50 religious, political, or ideological messages or religious, political, or ideological symbols in 51 the same manner and to the same extent that other types of clothing, accessories and jewelry 52 that display messages or symbols are permitted, as specified in subsection 7 of section 53 167.166. HB 2682 3
54 [6.] 7. (1) To ensure that the school district does not discriminate against a student's 55 publicly stated voluntary expression of a religious, political, or ideological viewpoint, if any, 56 and to eliminate any actual or perceived affirmative school sponsorship or attribution to the 57 district of a student's expression of a religious, political, or ideological viewpoint, if any, a 58 school district shall adopt a policy, which shall include the establishment of a limited public 59 forum for student speakers at all school events at which a student is to publicly speak. The 60 policy regarding the limited public forum shall also require the school district to: 61 (a) Provide the forum in a manner that does not discriminate against a student's 62 voluntary expression of a religious, political, or ideological viewpoint, if any, on an 63 otherwise permissible subject; 64 (b) Provide a method, based on neutral criteria, for the selection of student speakers at 65 school events and graduation ceremonies; 66 (c) Ensure that a student speaker does not engage in obscene, vulgar, offensively lewd 67 or indecent speech; and 68 (d) State, in writing, orally, or both, that the student's speech does not reflect the 69 endorsement, sponsorship, position or expression of the district. 70 (2) The school district disclaimer required by paragraph (d) of subdivision (1) of this 71 subsection shall be provided at all graduation ceremonies. The school district shall also 72 continue to provide the disclaimer at any other event in which a student speaks publicly for as 73 long as a need exists to dispel confusion over the district's nonsponsorship of the student's 74 speech. 75 (3) Student expression on an otherwise permissible subject shall not be excluded from 76 the limited public forum because the subject is expressed from a religious, political, or 77 ideological viewpoint. 78 (4) All public school districts shall adopt and implement a local policy regarding a 79 limited public forum and voluntary student expression of religious, political, or ideological 80 viewpoints. 81 [7.] 8. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to authorize this state or 82 any of its political subdivisions to either: 83 (1) Require any person to participate in prayer or in any other religious, political, or 84 ideological activity; or 85 (2) Violate the constitutional rights of any person. 86 [8.] 9. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit the authority of 87 any public school to do any of the following: 88 (1) Maintain order and discipline on the campus of the public school in a content and 89 viewpoint neutral manner; 90 (2) Protect the safety of students, employees and visitors of the public school; HB 2682 4
91 (3) Adopt and enforce policies and procedures regarding student speech at school, 92 provided that the policies and procedures do not violate the rights of students as guaranteed 93 by law. 94 10. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit the authority of 95 any public school to prohibit, limit, or restrict any of the following: 96 (1) Expression that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States 97 does not protect, such as true threats, obscenity, or expression directed to provoke 98 imminent lawless actions and likely to produce such actions; 99 (2) Expression that is unwelcome and so severe, pervasive, and subjectively and 100 objectively offensive that a student is effectively denied equal access to educational 101 opportunities or benefits provided by the school; or 102 (3) Conduct that intentionally, materially, and substantially disrupts: 103 (a) The operations of the school; or 104 (b) The expressive activity of another individual if that activity is occurring in a 105 campus space reserved for that activity under the exclusive use or control of a particular 106 student, group of students, or club. 107 11. Any person or student organization who is harmed by a violation of this 108 section or whose rights under this section are violated shall have a private cause of 109 action against the public school for declaratory and injunctive relief, monetary 110 damages, reasonable attorney's fees and costs, and any other appropriate relief. A 111 person or student organization shall be required to bring suit for violation of this section 112 not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. For purposes of 113 calculating the two-year limitation period, each day that the violation persists and each 114 day that a policy in violation of this section remains in effect shall constitute a new day 115 that the cause of action has accrued. If a court should find a violation of this section, it 116 shall issue an award to the prevailing party of at least five thousand dollars. 117 12. Any person or student organization aggrieved by a violation of this section 118 may assert such violation as a defense or counterclaim in any disciplinary action or in 119 any civil or administrative proceeding brought against such person or student 120 organization. 121 13. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any other remedies 122 available to any student or student organization. 123 14. The state waives immunity under the Eleventh Amendment to the United 124 States Constitution and consents to be sued in federal court for claims arising under this 125 section. A public school that violates this section is not immune from suit or liability for 126 the violation. HB 2682 5
127 [9.] 15. The provisions of section 1.140 are applicable to this section. ✔
Statutes affected: