9700 - RELATIONS WITH SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Middlebury Community School Corporation

Bylaws & Policies

9700 - RELATIONS WITH SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Any request from civic institutions, charitable organizations, or special interest groups which involve such activities as patriotic functions, contests, exhibits, sales of products to and by students, sending promotional materials home with students, graduation prizes, fund raising, and free teaching materials must be carefully reviewed to ensure that such activities promote student interests without advancing the special interests of any particular group.

It is the policy of the School Board that students, staff members, and Corporation facilities not be used for advertising or promoting the interests of any nonschool agency or organization, public or private, without the approval of the Board or its delegated representative; and any such approval, granted for whatever cause or group, shall not be construed as an endorsement of said cause or group by this Board.

Political/Commercial Interests

All materials or activities proposed by outside political or commercial sources for student or staff use or participation shall be reviewed by the principal on the basis of their educational contribution to part or all of the school program, benefit to students, and good taste and no such approval shall have the primary purpose of advancing the name, product, or special interest of the proposing group.

The Board shall not permit the use of any type of educational material, program, or equipment in its curricular or extra-curricular activities or at any time during the school day if such materials, programs, or equipment contain partisan political or commercial messages or are designed to persuade students or staff members to acquire a particular product or service offered by a named individual, company, organization, association, or agency. Professional staff may, however, utilize political materials or those provided by special interest-groups in adopted courses of study with the approval of the principal.

Contests/Exhibits

The Board recognizes that contests, exhibits, and the like may benefit individual students or the Corporation as a whole, but participation in such special activities may not:

		1.	have the primary affect of advancing a special product, group, or company;
		2.	make unreasonable demands upon the time and energies of staff or students or upon the resources of the Corporation;
		3.	involve any direct cost to the Corporation;
		4.	interrupt the regular school program;
		5.	cause the participants to leave the School Corporation, unless:

			a.	the Board's Policy 2340 - Field and Other Corporation-Sponsored Trips has been complied with in all aspects;
			b.	the Board has granted special permission;
			c.	the parents of a minor student have granted their permission.

Distribution/Posting of Literature

No outside organizations or staff member or student representing an outside organization may distribute or post literature on that organization's behalf on Corporation property either during or after school hours without the permission and prior review of the principal.

The Superintendent shall establish administrative guidelines which ensure that:

		1.	criteria established in Policy 5722 - Student Publications and Productions are used to make a decision regarding materials that students seek to post or distribute;
		2.	distribution or posting of materials employees wish to distribute on behalf of an employee organization comply with School Board policy;
		3.	the school mail system is not used by students or staff for distribution of nonschool-related materials;
		4.	no materials from any profit-making organization are distributed for students to take home to their parents unless authorized by the Superintendent;
		5.	the time, place, and manner of distribution of all nonschool-related materials is clearly established and communicated.

Solicitation of Funds

Any outside organization or staff member representing an outside organization desiring to solicit funds on school property must receive permission to do so from the Superintendent.

Permission to solicit funds will be granted only to those organizations or individuals who meet the permission criteria established in the Corporation's administrative guidelines. Solicitation must take place at such times and places and in such a manner as specified in the administrative guidelines. In accordance with Board Policy 5830, no Corporation student may participate in the solicitation without the Superintendent's approval.

The Board disclaims all responsibility for the protection of, or accounting for, such funds.

Solicited funds are not to be deposited in any regular or special accounts of the Corporation.

A copy of this policy as well as the relevant administrative guidelines shall be given to any individual granted permission to solicit funds on Corporation property.

This policy does not apply to the raising of funds for Corporation-sponsored or school-sponsored activities.

Any booster club or school-support group that may use students in a fund-raising activity must comply with I.C.-4-32-9-34, namely, that no student under the age of eighteen (18) may play, participate in, or sell tickets for any of the following types of fund-raising events - bingo games, charity game nights, raffles, door prizes, fund-raising festivals, activities related to pull tabs, punchboards, tip boards, and the like.

Prizes/Scholarships

The Board is appreciative of the generosity of organizations which offer scholarships or prizes to deserving students in this Corporation. But, in accepting the offer of such scholarships or prizes, the Board directs that these guidelines be observed:

		1.	No information either academic or personal shall be released from the student's record for the purpose of selecting a scholarship or prize winner without the permission of the student who is eighteen (18), or the parents of a student who is younger in accordance with the Board's policy on student records.
		2.	The type of scholarship or prize, the criteria for selection of the winner, and any restrictions upon it shall be approved by the principal.

Surveys and Questionnaires

Neither Corporation-related nor noncorporation-related organizations shall be allowed to administer a survey or questionnaire to students or staff unless the instrument and the proposed plan is submitted, in advance, to the Superintendent. If approved in accordance with the Superintendent's criteria, a copy of the results and the proposed manner of their communication are to be provided to the Superintendent for review and approval before they are released.