9700 - RELATIONS WITH SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Elk Rapids Schools

Bylaws & Policies

9700 - RELATIONS WITH SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

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

It is the policy of the Board of Education that students, staff members and District facilities shall 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 that any such approval, granted to whatever group or for whatever cause, shall not be construed as an endorsement by this Board.

9700.1	Political/Commercial Interests

	No materials or activities proposed for student or staff use or participation by outside political or commercial sources shall be allowed in the schools until they have been reviewed and approved by the building principal. The principal shall base his/her approval of all such materials and/or activities upon their educational contribution to part or all of the school program, their benefit to students and their good taste. Approval shall not be given for the primary purpose of advancing the name, product or special interest of the proposing group.

	The Board shall permit the use of educational materials, programs and equipment which contain commercial messages providing the content of such messages and the manner of presentation has been approved by the Superintendent and is in compliance with administrative guidelines of the District.

	Outside speakers representing commercial organizations will be welcome only when the commercial aspect of the speech or activity is limited to naming the organization represented and the subject matter advances the aims of the District.

9700.2	Contests/Exhibits

	The Board recognizes that contests, exhibits and similar activities may benefit individual students or the District as a whole, and authorizes participation in such activities by students and other District personnel provided that the activity does not:

	A.	Have the primary effect of advancing the interests of a special product, group or company;

	B.	Make unreasonable demands upon the time and/or energies of students or staff or upon the resources of the District;

	C.	Cause participants to leave District premises, except as participants in a scheduled, approved field trip sponsored by the District.

9700.3	Distribution/Posting of Literature

	No person representing an outside organization, including District students and staff members, may distribute or post literature on that organization's behalf on District property until such literature has been reviewed by the principal and permission to do so has been granted by that principal.

	The Superintendent shall establish administrative guidelines designed to ensure that:

	A.	Criteria established in Board policy regarding Student Publications and Productions are used to make all decisions concerned with materials that students seek to post or distribute;

	B.	Distribution or posting of any materials which employees wish to distribute or post on behalf of an employee organization comply with the terms of applicable collective bargaining agreements;

	C.	The school mail system is not used for distribution of nonschool-related materials;

	D.	No materials from any profit-making organization are distributed for students to take home to their parents unless authorized by the building principal;

	E.	The time, place, and manner of distribution of all nonschool-related materials is clearly established and communicated.

9700.4	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.

	Any student or any group of students wishing to solicit funds on school property for or on behalf of an outside organization shall first receive permission to do so from the Superintendent.

	Permission to solicit funds shall be granted only to those groups or individuals whose purposes are consonant with the goals of this District, the interests of the community, and meet the permission criteria established in the District'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 District student may participate in the solicitation without the Superintendent's approval.

	The Board disclaims any and all responsibility for the protection or the accounting of funds raised on behalf of any outside organization under this policy, and no such funds are to be deposited in any regular or special accounts of the District.

	A copy of this policy and its relevant administrative guidelines shall be given to any individual or group granted permission to solicit funds on District property.

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

	For purposes of this policy the term "solicitation of funds" shall include asking directly for money or indirectly as in the sale of goods or services, the playing of games or the establishment of contests.

9700.5	Prizes/Scholarships

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

	A.	No information, either personal or academic, shall be released from any student's record for the purpose of selecting a scholarship or prize winner unless the permission of the student who is eighteen (18) years of age or older, or of a parent of the student who is younger has first been obtained, and all other requirements of District policy on student records have been met.

	B.	The type of scholarship or prize, the criteria for selection of the winner and any restrictions upon it shall have been approved by the Superintendent.

	C.	All scholarships and prizes accepted in the District shall be awarded without regard to race, sex, color, religion, age, physical disability, ancestry, national origin, or any other unlawful discriminatory classification.

9700.6	Surveys/Questionnaires

	No organization 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, a copy of the results and the proposed manner of their communication are to be provided to him/her for review and approval before they are released.

Revised 6/13/94
Revised 12/11/03