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NEWS RELEASE Contact: Mat Staver FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :September 6, 2000 Ohio Lawsuit
Results in Settlement Allowing Parents the Right to Pre-Review Woodville, Ohio - - Following a federal lawsuit brought by Scott and Cindy Henderly on behalf of their two children, the Woodmore local school district agreed to a settlement that will allow parents the right to opt out or object to certain surveys, analyses, or evaluations. The Henderly's are represented by Attorney Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, a civil liberties educational legal defense organization based in Orlando, Florida. The federal lawsuit was precipitated after Matthew Henderly came home and told his parents that the school passed out a questionnaire which offended and confused him. Among other things, the questionnaire asked some of the following questions: Some of the questions were in the form of statements such as "Most Black families are fatherless or broken by divorce or abandonment?" or "Most Whites are superior to other races?", or "Blacks, Mexicans, and Hispanics are best suited to manual labor". After several unsuccessful meetings with school officials, the Henderly's filed a federal lawsuit. The suit claimed that the school district violated the Federal Protection of Pupil Rights Act and violated the constitutionally protected parental rights. The PPRA requires that the school obtain prior written consent before distributing any survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals political affiliations, mental and psychological problems, sex behavior and attitude, illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior, critical appraisals of other individuals, or inquires into legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers, or request any information regarding income. Although a federal judge originally dismissed the PPRA complaint on the basis that the survey in question was not federally funded, the parents and the school board entered into a settlement while the case was on appeal. Under the settlement the school district will publish the policy in the student handbook and undertake a course of education to teach school personnel to properly administer the policy. The policy requires strict compliance with the federal PPRA for any federally funded surveys, analyses or evaluations. If the survey is not federally funded the school must undertake efforts to give parents a reasonable opportunity to object to the student's participation. The policy also states that "no parent or student may be harassed, intimidated, retaliated against, or interrogated regarding the exercise of their rights under the PPRA or this Policy." Staver commented, "We are pleased with
the resolution of this case because it gives recognition to the rights
of parents to educate and train their children without being subjected
to certain questionnaires that tend to put a wedge between the parent-child
relationship." "Too often schools disseminate objectionable
questionnaires that have no reasonable relationship to the curriculum.
These questionnaires often ask objectionable information such as drugs
and sexual experiences along with family income, parental relationships,
and religious affiliations or beliefs. Parents have a right to know
about these surveys ahead of time so that they can make the best decisions
on behalf of their children," concluded Staver. |