Brevard County (Florida)
Bylaws & Policies
 

9700.01 - SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS RECRUITING STUDENTS IN THE CLASSROOM

Special interest groups (herein referred to as SIG) seeking to advance their organization, (public or private not-for-profit) by entering the classroom to recruit students to join their association/organization, or discuss the benefits of joining an established youth group or organization must comply with all requirements found in this policy before the Board or its delegated representative will grant access to students sitting in their classroom. In all cases, any approval, granted for whatever cause or group, shall not be construed as an endorsement of said cause or group by this Board.

 A.School Administration Requirements:
  1.When approached by a SIG that desires to recruit students directly from the classroom, the school principal is to refer the SIG to Board Policy 9700, Policy 9700.01, and Policy 9701 and provide them with Form 9700.01 F1 - "Application for the Board to Consider Approval of a Special Interest Group's Recruitment of Students in the Classroom." The SIG should be advised to complete the application form in its entirety, and then return to the school. It is important to note, the SIG shall be advised that they only need to complete the form if after reading Board Policy 9700, Policy 9700.01, and Policy 9701 they still feel they meet the minimum requirements for classroom recruiting.
  2.Presentations by SIG's are limited to the first forty-five (45) school days of each school year. No other classroom recruiting by SIG's will be allowed after this period.
  3.Upon receipt of the completed Form 9700.01 F1, the principal will submit the completed form to the school's area superintendent to review the form and verify that the SIG meets the minimum requirements found in Section B - Minimum Requirements for All SIG's found in this guideline. If the area superintendent feels that the SIG has met the minimum requirements found in Section B - Minimum Requirements for All SIG's; they are to submit the completed application form to the Board for consideration to approve at their next scheduled meeting. If the principal and/or area superintendent does not feel the SIG meets the minimum requirements found in Section B - Minimum Requirements for All SIG's, they shall submit the application to the Board with a recommendation to deny. SIG's that do not meet the minimum requirements as determined by the Board shall be advised that they are not eligible for classroom access, but may submit literature for distribution as long as the literature meets the requirements found in Board Policy 9701.
  4.SIG's that are permitted to recruit students in the classroom will receive a confirmation letter that clearly defines they have Board approval to do so as well as the limits imposed by the Board as to their presentation. The SIG must then submit this approval letter to all schools where they seek to recruit.
  5.If the SIG is permitted to recruit students in the classroom, the principal shall set a reasonable time, place, and manner for classroom access. Prior to the event, the principal is to obtain a completed facility use agreement form and certificate of insurance from the SIG as required by Board Policy 7510 - Use of District Facilities.
  6.During the day of recruiting, the principal is to have a process in place that will assist the teacher in removing and supervising students whose parents have previously asked to have their child removed from the classroom during the SIG's presentation.
  7.During the day of recruiting, the teacher is to announce to the class the name of the SIG and indicate that they will be making a presentation. The teacher will only excuse students whose parent or guardian has previously requested to have their child excused.
  8.During the day of recruiting, the appointed individual and/or the teacher is to make sure the SIG is following the time lines, as well as, not deviating from the approved topic. If the SIG is violating the terms of access, they have the authority to terminate access.
 B.Minimum Requirements for All SIG's:
  All groups must meet every requirement in this section before access to enter the classroom for the purpose of recruiting students will be allowed:
  1.The SIG must be a governmental or not-for-profit community based youth group, organized to serve young people under age twenty-one (21) that promotes and provides opportunities for students to learn and practice good character qualities, citizenship, community service, patriotism, and moral values in an age appropriate manner outside of the regular school day.
  2.The SIG cannot meet, hold meetings, or provide educational opportunities that compete with the schools' regularly scheduled school day.
  3.The SIG must be an established youth group or youth organization that has established rules and bylaws.
  4.The SIG must limit their presentation to the goals and activities of the organization and the opportunities offered to the students.
  5.The presentation shall not insult or violate the rights of others, including but not limited, to a presentation that is libelous, invades the privacy of others, infringes on a copyright, or is in any way prohibited by State or Federal law. This includes presentations that scurrilously attack an individual's race, age, national origin, gender, gender orientation, religion, creed, disability, economic status, or advocate interference with the rights of any individual.
  6.The presentation shall not be socially inappropriate or age inappropriate for the maturity level of the students, including, but not limited to, material that is obscene, pornographic or lewd, vulgar or indecent, or is insulting to any group or individual.
  7.The presentation shall not include any teaching of the organizations principles or creed, nor shall the SIG ask questions or seek input from students during the presentation.
  8.The presentation shall not incite (lead) persons to commit illegal acts, violate Board policy, and/or promote hostility, disorder, or violence.
  9.The presentation shall not disrupt or interfere with the proper and orderly operation and discipline of the school or school activities.
  10.The presentation shall not in any way promote, favor, or oppose any political party, political viewpoint, organization, the candidacy of any candidate for election, or any public questions submitted at any general, municipal, or school election or be religious or non-religious proselytizing in nature.
  11.The presentation shall not take place on Election Day or special election when the school is being used as a polling place.
  12.The presentation shall not be of a commercial nature, including, but not limited to, material that primarily seeks to advertise for sale or rent the products or services of outside businesses.
  13.The SIG must comply with Board Policy 7510 - Use of District Facilities, specifically they must complete a facility use agreement form for each school they visit and submit a certificate of insurance that meets the requirements in this policy. These groups will be classified as a Category II user therefore no fee for use will be charged for classroom presenters.
  14.The SIG's presenters must comply with and pass the District's Level II criminal history background screen requirements.
  15.The SIG must provide the principal with notice of their desire to enter classrooms to recruit students a minimum of fifteen (15) school days prior to their expected presentation date.
  16.The SIG must provide (at their expense) a parental notification letter in sufficient number for all students to take home to their parent or guardian informing them of the pending classroom recruitment presentation. The letter must inform parents of their right to have their child removed from the classroom during the presentation. The letter must contain specific language listed in Section C - Parental Notification Letter below and returned to the school for distribution a minimum of ten (10) school days in advance of the expected recruiting presentation.
  17.The SIG is limited to one (1) classroom presentation in any number of or all classrooms for a particular school year.
  18.The SIG shall not distribute literature in the classroom during their presentation. The SIG may hold up and show students their literature and advise students that an informational brochure is available in a central location (approved by the principal) if they wish to further read and inform their parents of the information learned. If the SIG make literature available or asks the school to distribute literature on the appointed date it must meet all requirements of Board Policy 9701 - Distribution of Materials and Literature to Students.
  19.If the SIG desires to provide annual recruitment presentations, they must provide the school with statistics showing how the previous year's presentation impacted the growth of the SIG. This can be done by documentation that shows increased participation or any other similar vehicle that clearly shows the organizations presentation had a direct correlation to increased student participation in their organization.
 C.Parental Notification Letter:
  1.The heading of the parental notification letter shall state the following in size 14 capitalized and bold lettering: Parental Notification of Classroom Recruitment by a Special Interest Group.
  2.The first paragraph of the letter shall state the following in size 12 lettering: Dear Parent, Board Policy 9700.01 - Working with Special Interest Groups allows special interest groups the opportunity to recruit children to join an outside special interest group in their classroom. These special interest groups are neither sponsored by nor endorsed by the District, its agents, or its employees. The views and information that will be presented to your child are not an expression of opinion, belief, or policy of the Board, the District, and/or the school your child attends. This letter is your notification that a special interest group has expressed an interest in recruiting students. The following special interest group will be recruiting:
   The second paragraph of the letter shall outlined the following in bulleted form:
   a.the name of the SIG along with the name of any parent company or organization;
   b.the date or week the presentation will take place;
   c.a summary of what will be presented;
   d.the date and time of any subsequent meeting that may provide more in-depth information about the group and/or sign the students up to join these groups.
  3.The third paragraph shall state: You have the right to have your child removed from the classroom during this special interest group's presentation. To do so, please completed the statement below and return it to your child's teacher at least one (1) day in advance of the scheduled presentation day or week. If we do not receive this form, we will assume you will allow your child to be present during the above special interest group's recruitment presentation. Sincerely, School Administration.
  4.The form will then include a side to side dotted line.
  5.Below the dotted line the form shall state: I ______________________________ parent of __________________________ (student's name) do not want my child to be present during the presentation by _________________________________ (list the name of the special interest group or all special interest groups).
 D.Classroom Presentation Requirements:
  The presentation by the SIG must:
  1.inform students of the name of their organization as well as the name of any parent organization for the SIG;
  2.state the following: "This presentation is neither sponsored by nor endorsed by the District, your teacher, your principal, or any employee of the District. The views and information contained in this presentation are not an expression of the opinion, belief, or policy of the Board, the District, and/or this school." at the start of each presentation;
  3.provide verbal information about the specific community activity/event or meeting, including, but not limited to, the nature of the meeting/event/activity, location, day, and time;
  4.not exceed five (5) minutes in length;
  5.refer students to a central location to retrieve written materials about the presentation for themselves and/or their parents.

Adopted 10/27/09