Additional Resources
| General Resources | Additional Release Forms | Court Cases involving student webpages |

Developing Web Page Policies or Guidelines, Mary Alice Anderson
Technology Connection, May/June 1997
Comprehensive list of questions to consider when developing web publishing policies. Categories include content, contributors, safeguards, ownerships, relationships to other policies, and more.

Keeping it Legal: Questions Arising out of Web Site Management , Jamie McKenzie
Excellent resource for reviewing ethical and legal issues related to developing web pages. Contains sections devoted to copyright, fair use, intellectual property, publishing student work.

District or School Web Publishing Policy, David Warlick
The who, what, where, when, and why for those who are putting together a policy for their district.

Oregon Public Education Network Web Policy
Addresses the roles and responsiblities for the district, school, and classroom web sites. Student web pages must contain the following notice, "This is a student Web page. Opinions expresed on this page shall not be attributed to the ESD or District."

Creating Student Generated Websites
Presented at North Central Association in Chicago, Illinois April 13, 1999 by Tammy Payton, first grade teacher/school web editor and Pat Hale, library media specialist. Contains suggested guidelines for how to organize student generated websites and how to address issues related to publishing student information.

Creating Web Pages for K-12 Schools and Libraries
Contains a section titled "Guidelines and Policies for School Web Pages" which highlights over 15 different K-12 web publishing policies.

Developing Institutional WWW Policy
A PowerPoint slide show developed by Richard Appleyard from Oregon Health Sciences University.

Policy Schmolicy: It’s the Architecture!, Rob Reilly
Printed in MultiMedia Schools, November/December 1999. Covers the topics of filtering, copyright, and password protection. Also identifies 4 aspects to consider when developing technology policies.

Designing School Homepages
Provides an excellent description of the various roles that media specialist, principals, staff, and students take when working on a web site.

Newspaper 'fair use' challenge could limit what schools and others post on the web: LA Times and Washington Post sue web site for copyright infringement, eSchool News on-line, Nov 1998
Law suit that has implications on what can be posted on a schools web site. Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post filed a copyright-infringement lawsuit against the Free Republic site which reposted stories onto their own website.

Ethics & Law: Take a common-sense approach to posting school information on the web, David A. Splitt
From eSchool News on-line in Sept 1999. Commentary on using common sense when posting to your web site. Highlights New Jersey school that was sued for posting a student's photo on the district web site without permission. (Note: I don't believe the case ever actually made it to court. However, I'm not sure if it was settled or dropped)

Does Different Mean Deadly? More Fallout from School Shooting, ACLU
Reprinted article from Associated Press. Addresses the current outbreaks student rage that is sometimes seen in student webpages.

International Reading Association Student Photo Release Form
Release form grants permission to use student photos in print or on-line media.

O'Brien v. Westlake School District (Ohio, May 1998)

Summary:
High school student Sean O'Brien was suspended after using his personal web site to make fun of his band teacher. Westlake school district suspended him for 10 days because his website demonstrated, "physical. written or verbal disrespect/threat". However, the federal courts had the 10 day suspension lifted and in the end, the district had to pay O'Brien $30,000.

Links:
District must pay teacher-bashing student $30K: Court overturns suspension and upholds protection of student speech on the internet, eSchoolNews online, May 1998

Mitchell v. Rolla School District (Missouri, Oct. 1999)

Summary:
Student Dustin Mitchell was suspended for participating in a web based discussion related to the Columbine High Tragedy. The on-line discussion took place after school using non-school equipment and was sponsored by a local ISP, not the schools system. In the discussion, the question was raised about whether there was someone in Rolla who would carry out the similar school shooting as in Columbine. Mitchell responded "yes" and was then suspended by the Rolla School District. At this time (Nov 1999), there is no decision regarding this case. However, it seems likely that the courts will likely side with Mitchell since the scenario occurred outside of school settings. In order for the school district to prevail, they would need to show that the comment caused a "material disruption" - which is unlikely.

Links:
Mitchell v. Rolla School District Complaint, posted by ACLU, October 1999

ACLU Defends Missouri Honors Student Suspended For Remark in Internet Chat Room, posted by ACLU, Oct 14, 1999

 

Swidler v. Bethlehem Area School District (Pennsylvania, Aug. 1999)

Summary:
Student Justin Swidler's personal web site asked for donations to hire a hit man to kill his math teacher. In this case, the courts found the comments to be "materially disruptive" and hence sided with the school district. Swidler was expelled from school.

Links:
Pennsylvania judge: Expelling student for web site threats is OK, eSchool News online, August 1999

 

 

Buessink v. School District (Missouri, Feb 1998)

Summary:
Student Brandon Buessink, 17, created a personal web site that made vulgar comments about his high school. It also urged visitors to send an e-mail to the principal to them him that the school was bad. Beussink was originally suspended for 10 days, but the suspension and all other disciplinary action was lifted by the court.

Links:
BEUSSINK v. WOODLAND R-IV SCHOOL DISTRICT, Electronic Commerce & Law Report, Nov 17 1998

Beussink v. Woodland School District, ACLU

Missouri teen who criticized school on Web page sues over suspension , The Freedom Forum, Aug 28 1998

ACLU Wins Victory for Student Suspended Over Website Posting, The Freedom Forum, December 28 1998

Court to school district: You can't stop a kid from creating a personal web site critical of your schools: Missouri school district becomes the latest to learn the hard way, eSchool News on-line, Feb 1999

Conradt v.Carmel High (Indiana, 1999)

Summary:
Student Brian Conradt created a personal web site that named 10 high school staff members, plus district Superintendent R. Stephen Tegarden, as "Satan-worshiping demons". A group of teachers are currently sueing the student and his parents for "defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and making false statements that caused outrage or mental suffering, shame and humiliation."

Links:
3 teachers sue student over Web site, StarNews.com, August 7,1999

 

 

Field High School (Ohio, May 1999)

Summary:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio will represent six of the eleven students who were suspended from Field High School in Brimfield, Ohio, after contributing to a gothic-theme web site.

Links:
Ohio ACLU Defends Students Suspended Over Gothic-Themed Web Site , ACLU, May 3 1999