Have we become this litigious: School Related

[dejr_8]

Our school system is now requiring a disclaimer on all non-school related flyers (eg baseball, boy scouts, soccer) that the school sends home.

"The school's display of this publication is not an endorsement of the sponsoring organization, the activities described, or the contents of the materials displayed. In addition, Chatham County Schools makes no representation regarding the nature or quality of the services or activities promoted"

Yet another example that common sense "has left the building".

 

[Ceila]

I can go one step further. Our district has all but stopped sending home flyers like that.

 

[Bilberry]

It's crazy what's going on. Remembered reading recently a county in West Virginia is removing play grounds from schools for fear of law suites. I hope there is law suite reform in the future.

End Of Child's Play
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/545955/201009021904/End-Of-Childs-Play.aspx

 

[bicker]

I can go one step further. Our district has all but stopped sending home flyers like that.

That's completely appropriate. It's a school. Non-school things shouldn't be using schools to advertise.

 

[dejr_8]

That's completely appropriate. It's a school. Non-school things shouldn't be using schools to advertise.

Can't disagree more. Schools are a central part of "the community (or village?)" and need to be used as a means to distribute information.

 

[Pigeon]

Actually, I think it's common sense entering the building.

Say your kid is a boy scout and has been molested by his scout leader. The last thing the school needs is to be seen endorsing the organization.

 

[bicker]

Can't disagree more. Schools are a central part of "the community (or village?)" and need to be used as a means to distribute information.

Fine: The schools can advertise government-sponsored things.

Not private things nor not-for-profits that seek to project their own sensibilities instead of the community's standards as reflected in its laws. If it can't get government funding (for reasons other than there isn't enough money), then it has no place being promoted in the schools.

In a nutshell: Stop using my tax money to project what you want to project.

 

[freckles and boo]

I don't mind flyers. They help keep us informed about opportunities for the kids in the community. The come home in a big yellow envelope on Thursday afternoon and the principals are aware of what is being distributed. I also like the disclaimer. It SHOULD be obvious that the school district doesn't endorse things that are clearly not school sponsored but some parents would be willing to hold the school responsible if Timmy twists his ankle in a community football league.

 

[Pigeon]

Fine: The schools can advertise government-sponsored things.

Not private things nor not-for-profits that seek to project their own sensibilities instead of the community's standards as reflected in its laws. If it can't get government funding (for reasons other than there isn't enough money), then it has no place being promoted in the schools.

In a nutshell: Stop using my tax money to project what you want to project.

I agree with this. We get home all kinds of flyers from religious and discriminatory organizations that I find objectionable. Now, the organizations print up the flyers, so the school isn't spending money on them, but they are wasting time distributing flyers in school. I would love to see that end.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My dd is in middle school and I have not had 1 flier. Everything is online.

When I was in PTA way back when, we have to pay for the fliers we sent home out of our own account. The copy machines have codes you enter to print up the material and you paid the bill monthy. Everything we did send home had to be approved by the principal or the district depending on what the info was about.

Honestly, I would question the school as to who is paying for the distribution of the fliers that are nonschool related. You might find that the school is not paying for it hence the reason that the disclaimer is put there. In fact I expect that to be the case. Paper is like gold.

I do not have a problem with the disclaimer. It is just pointing out that the school system is not a part of the organization. I do not find that to be a "common sense" has left the building.

 

[bicker]

The idea that the school could actually be paying for the flyers themselves never crossed my mind. That would be outrageous! Just distributing these flyers is objectionable enough. There's a cost to that, in terms of time taken up with the distribution, and administrivia associated with the affair, over-and-above the offense associated with the school being involved in things that are not official municipal operations.

 

[goofy!]

I can go one step further. Our district has all but stopped sending home flyers like that.

Same here. Only official school flyers are allowed to be distributed through the school. If it didn't come from the school or the district, it cannot be sent home with the students. This has been in place for at least 10 years now.

Our district adopted the policy because organizations were whining if the school didn't get "their" flyers out in time.

It was beginning to get ridiculous all the flyers that were coming home. Teachers/paras were spending an enormous amount of time collating and distributing this info, time that should be spent with the students. So, the district adopted the policy that the schools were only responsible for their own stuff and would no longer distribute other organizations literature.

Boy scouts, girl scouts, after-school activities have all managed to survive and get the word out

 

[Pigeon]

Honestly, I would question the school as to who is paying for the distribution of the fliers that are nonschool related. You might find that the school is not paying for it hence the reason that the disclaimer is put there. In fact I expect that to be the case. Paper is like gold.

I can't imagine that any school is paying to print these things up. Dh is a public school teacher and they don't have enough paper to print out school work.

In our case, the organizations send the flyers to the school. The school office counts up the number for each class and puts them in the teachers' mailboxes. The teachers pass them out. That's a waste of the school's time.

I'm not sure how the organizations could possibly distribute the flyers. We don't have random people hanging out in the schools, which I think would be disruptive. We have parent volunteers who are there for very specific reasons.

 

[epcotprincess]

Universities do the same thing... everything has to be approved with a stamp before being posted or distributed.

It really isn't the schools fault they have to do this.

 

[freckles and boo]

The idea that the school could actually be paying for the flyers themselves never crossed my mind. That would be outrageous! Just distributing these flyers is objectionable enough. There's a cost to that, in terms of time taken up with the distribution, and administrivia associated with the affair, over-and-above the offense associated with the school being involved in things that are not official municipal operations.

Arguing with you is generally futile but I will make my point anyway. Our community is tight-knit, despite sitting in the middle of a huge metropolitan area. The schools are woven into the fabric of the community. You clearly idealize what you believe schools SHOULD be but the fact remains that it is not a cold, government factory. They reach out to the community because it helps build success in education. I would take GREAT offense if I received a flyer that in some way promoted a religious or a political perspective but it has never happened. The schools incur no printing costs, have strict deadlines for distribution, and do not distribute anything that could in any way be seen as exclusionary. Plus, we have a progressive recycling program so the crap I don't need ends up in the blue box. I can see how flyers could become problematic if there was no system in place to maintain order and fairness but it can and does work in our schools.

 

[Colleen27]

I agree with this. We get home all kinds of flyers from religious and discriminatory organizations that I find objectionable. Now, the organizations print up the flyers, so the school isn't spending money on them, but they are wasting time distributing flyers in school. I would love to see that end.

Wow, that surprises me. Around here it is pretty much how Bicker said it should be, except that for-profit businesses are allowed to promote kid-focused classes/events too. The flyers that come home are all about different activities available to the kids, and they're all mainstream groups. The only one that might be objectionable to some people is scouting, because of the BSA position on homosexuality. The rest are mostly Little League, AYSO, youth football, parks & rec, classes/events at the state parks and things along those lines, with the occasional flyer from the local dance studio, gymnastics gym, music store, art gallery/studio, etc. Nothing with an expressly religious or discriminatory nature, just notices of activities the community offers for children.

 

[MM27]

My school has been doing that on flyers for as long as I've been there (11 years). I think it's a great idea because no matter what you say or do, there's always at least one person that is offended and will put up a stink.

My principal always jokes when something new is added to our school, "I wonder when the first phone call will come or the first parent will show up to tell me how they disagree with it." It always happens.

 

[barkley]

Universities do the same thing... everything has to be approved with a stamp before being posted or distributed.

It really isn't the schools fault they have to do this.

we've never been sent home a flyer from the public school, so i'm guessing they just don't distribute, but the college method was how the public jr/sr highs handled it where i grew up.

there was a large bulletin board, groups had to get a flyer stamped with approval before posting on it, and then if an individual student wanted a copy of the flyer they went to the office where they had them in a accordian file which was kept on a table so the student could access them without bothering the staff.

 

[eliza61]

Our school system is now requiring a disclaimer on all non-school related flyers (eg baseball, boy scouts, soccer) that the school sends home.

"The school's display of this publication is not an endorsement of the sponsoring organization, the activities described, or the contents of the materials displayed. In addition, Chatham County Schools makes no representation regarding the nature or quality of the services or activities promoted"

Yet another example that common sense "has left the building".

In one word. Yes! any time we don't like the outcome of some thing we sue.

 

[barkley]

It's crazy what's going on. Remembered reading recently a county in West Virginia is removing play grounds from schools for fear of law suites. I hope there is law suite reform in the future.

End Of Child's Play
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/545955/201009021904/End-Of-Childs-Play.aspx

thinking back, the elementary school i went to in the 60's never had swings. the other ones in that district did'nt either (i had to tour them all years later when i was a teaching student). we had 3 "playgrounds"-1 for k only (a jungle gym and a sandbox), 1 for 1st-3rd (monkey bars, painted hopscotch and 4 squares, one metal larger jungle gym), and 1 for 4th-6th (NO actual play equipment, tetherball, 4 square, basketball hoops). i guess the idea was you needed less playground structures as you aged up.

my kids attended a school (dd from 1st-6th) that had no playgrounds whatsoeever. there was an area designated for recess, but it was realy a throwback to many generations ago. there was chalk if the kids wanted to draw their own hopscotch or 4-square, butterfly nets (an adjacent field owned by the school was used allot by the kids, esp. boys), balls, jumpropes and hula hoops. the kids honestly did not seem to miss not having an actual playground. at one point in time a very generous donar offered up $75,000 to purchase traditional playground equipment, other doners and volunteers would have done the land prep. the school considered it but when they looked at the massive increase to their liability insurance they said thanks but no thanks, it just was'nt worth it for something the kids could only use 20 minutes per day (i don't know how it works elsewhere, but where we lived in california and where we live now in washington, school playgrounds are not permitted to be used before/after school to the extent that they were designed with chain link fences and locks, the only time they are open is during the school day for the staggared recesses).