H.F. 568 Section 1. Section 256.9, Code 2021, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 63. Ensure that each school district has 3 adopted a policy that meets the requirements of section 279.73, 4 subsection 2. 5 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 279.73 Speech and expression —— 6 policies —— remedies. 7 1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context 8 otherwise requires: 9 a. “Benefit” with respect to a student organization at a 10 school district means any of the following: 11 (1) Recognition. 12 (2) Registration. 13 (3) Use of facilities for meetings or speaking purposes. 14 (4) Use of channels of communication. 15 (5) Access to funding sources that are otherwise available 16 to other student groups. 17 b. “Materially and substantially disrupts” means when 18 a person, with the intent to or with knowledge of doing 19 so, engages in violent or other disorderly conduct that 20 significantly hinders a previously scheduled or reserved 21 activity occurring on school grounds or in school buildings and 22 facilities. “Materially and substantially disrupts” does not 23 include conduct that is protected under the first amendment 24 to the Constitution of the United States, including but not 25 limited to lawful protests and counterprotests. 26 c. “Outdoor areas” means the generally accessible outside 27 areas on property owned or leased, or lease-purchased by the 28 school district where students, administrators, and staff at 29 a school district are commonly allowed, such as grassy areas, 30 walkways, or other similar common areas and does not include 31 a facility or outdoor area used by the school district’s 32 athletics programs or teams, or other outdoor areas where 33 access is restricted to a majority of the school community. 34 d. “School community” means students, administrators, and 35 -1- LSB 2485YH (4) 89 kh/jh 1/ 8

H.F. 568 staff of a school district and guests invited to a school 1 district by the school district’s students, administrators, or 2 staff. 3 e. “School district” means a public school district 4 described in chapter 274 and includes public school attendance 5 centers operated by a school district for instructional 6 purposes for elementary, middle, or secondary school students. 7 f. “Student” means an individual who is enrolled in the 8 school district. 9 g. “Student organization” means an organized and supervised 10 athletic program or school-sponsored extracurricular activity. 11 2. Policy adoption. The board of directors of each 12 school district shall adopt a policy that includes all of the 13 following statements: 14 a. That the primary function of a school district is the 15 discovery, improvement, transmission, and dissemination of 16 knowledge by means of research, teaching, discussion, and 17 debate. This statement shall provide that, to fulfill this 18 function, the school district must strive to ensure the fullest 19 degree of intellectual freedom and free expression allowed 20 under the first amendment to the Constitution of the United 21 States. 22 b. (1) That it is not the proper role of a school district 23 to shield individuals from speech protected by the first 24 amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which may 25 include ideas and opinions the individual finds unwelcome, 26 disagreeable, or even offensive. 27 (2) That it is the proper role of a school district to 28 encourage diversity of thoughts, ideas, and opinions and to 29 encourage, within the bounds of the first amendment to the 30 Constitution of the United States, the peaceful, respectful, 31 and safe exercise of first amendment rights. 32 c. That students and staff have the freedom to discuss 33 any problem that presents itself, assemble, and engage in 34 spontaneous expressive activity on school grounds, within the 35 -2- LSB 2485YH (4) 89 kh/jh 2/ 8

H.F. 568 bounds of established principles of the first amendment to the 1 Constitution of the United States, and subject to reasonable 2 time, place, and manner restrictions that are consistent with 3 established first amendment principles. 4 d. That the outdoor areas of a school district and public 5 school attendance areas are public forums, open on the same 6 terms to any invited speaker subject to reasonable time, place, 7 and manner restrictions that are consistent with established 8 principles of the first amendment to the Constitution of the 9 United States. 10 3. Protected activities. 11 a. Noncommercial expressive activities protected under the 12 provisions of this section include but are not limited to any 13 lawful oral or written means by which members of the school 14 community may communicate ideas to one another, including 15 but not limited to all forms of peaceful assembly, protests, 16 speeches including by invited speakers, distribution of 17 literature, circulating petitions, and publishing, including 18 publishing or streaming on an internet site, or audio or video 19 recorded in outdoor areas. 20 b. A member of the school community who wishes to engage 21 in noncommercial expressive activity in outdoor areas shall be 22 permitted to do so freely, subject to reasonable time, place, 23 and manner restrictions, and as long as the member’s conduct 24 is not unlawful, does not impede others’ access to a facility 25 or use of walkways, and does not disrupt the functioning of 26 the school district, subject to the protections of paragraph 27 “a” . The school district may designate other areas of the 28 school grounds available for use by the school community 29 according to school district policy, but in all cases access 30 to designated areas of the school grounds must be granted on 31 a viewpoint-neutral basis within the bounds of established 32 principles of the first amendment to the Constitution of the 33 United States. 34 c. A school district shall not deny benefits or privileges 35 -3- LSB 2485YH (4) 89 kh/jh 3/ 8

H.F. 568 available to student organizations based on the viewpoint of 1 a student organization or the expression of the viewpoint of 2 a student organization by the student organization or its 3 members protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of 4 the United States. In addition, a school district shall not 5 deny any benefit or privilege to a student organization based 6 on the student organization’s requirement that the leaders 7 of the student organization agree to and support the student 8 organization’s beliefs, as those beliefs are interpreted 9 and applied by the organization, and to further the student 10 organization’s mission. 11 d. This subsection shall not be interpreted as limiting 12 the right of student expression in a counter demonstration 13 held in an outdoor area as long as the conduct at the counter 14 demonstration is not unlawful, does not materially and 15 substantially prohibit the free expression rights of others 16 in an outdoor area or disrupt the functioning of the school 17 district, and does not impede others’ access to a facility or 18 use of walkways, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner 19 restrictions that are consistent with established principles of 20 the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. 21 e. This section shall not be interpreted as preventing 22 school districts from prohibiting, limiting, or restricting 23 expression that the first amendment to the Constitution of the 24 United States does not protect, including but not limited to 25 a threat of serious harm and expression directed or likely 26 directed to provoke imminent unlawful actions; or from 27 prohibiting harassment, including but not limited to expression 28 which is so severe, pervasive, and subjectively and objectively 29 offensive that the expression unreasonably interferes with an 30 individual’s access to educational opportunities or benefits 31 provided by a school district. 32 4. Public forums —— freedom of association. 33 a. The outdoor areas of school districts in this state shall 34 be deemed public forums. School districts may maintain and 35 -4- LSB 2485YH (4) 89 kh/jh 4/ 8

H.F. 568 enforce clear, published, reasonable viewpoint-neutral time, 1 place, and manner restrictions that are narrowly tailored in 2 furtherance of a significant institutional interest, but shall 3 allow members of the school community to engage in spontaneous 4 expressive activity and to distribute literature. Restrictions 5 instituted by a school district under this subsection shall 6 provide for ample alternative means of expression. 7 b. Except as provided in this section, and subject to 8 reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, a school 9 district shall not designate any area of the school grounds 10 a free-speech zone or otherwise create policies restricting 11 expressive activities to a particular outdoor area. 12 c. Nothing in this section shall be construed to grant 13 individuals the right to engage in conduct that intentionally, 14 materially, and substantially disrupts the expressive activity 15 of a person or student organization if the school district has 16 reserved space in an outdoor area for activity by the person or 17 student organization in accordance with this section. 18 5. Remedies —— statute of limitations —— immunity. 19 a. A member of the school community aggrieved by a violation 20 of this section may file a complaint with the board of 21 directors of the school district. 22 b. A member of the school community aggrieved by a violation 23 of this section may assert such violation as a defense 24 or counterclaim in a disciplinary action or in a civil or 25 administrative proceeding brought against the member of the 26 school community. 27 c. A member of the school community shall bring a claim for 28 violation of this section pursuant to this subsection not later 29 than one year after the day the cause of action accrues. 30 d. This subsection shall not be interpreted to limit any 31 other remedies available to a member of the school community. 32 e. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to make any 33 administrator, officer, employee, or agent of a school district 34 personally liable for acts taken pursuant to the individual’s 35 -5- LSB 2485YH (4) 89 kh/jh 5/ 8

H.F. 568 official duties. 1 EXPLANATION 2 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 3 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 4 This bill relates to public forums, freedom of expression, 5 and freedom of association at school districts. 6 DEFINITIONS. The bill defines “benefit”, “materially and 7 substantially disrupts”, “outdoor areas”, “school community”, 8 “school districts”, “student”, and “student organization” for 9 purposes of new Code section 279.73 established by the bill. 10 POLICY ADOPTION. The bill requires the board of directors of 11 each school district to adopt a policy that includes statements 12 describing the functions and roles of institutions with regard 13 to knowledge; protected speech; the freedom to discuss within 14 the bounds of the established principles of the first amendment 15 to the United States Constitution; freedom to assemble 16 and engage in spontaneous expressive activities subject to 17 reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions; and outdoor 18 areas as public forums. The bill requires the director of the 19 department of education to ensure that each school board has 20 adopted such a policy. 21 PROTECTED ACTIVITIES. Protected activities include 22 noncommercial expressive activities including but not limited 23 to oral or written means to communicate ideas, including but 24 not limited to all forms of peaceful assembly, protests, 25 speeches including by invited speakers, distribution of 26 literature, and circulating petitions. A member of the school 27 community who wishes to engage in noncommercial expressive 28 activity in outdoor areas shall be permitted to do so freely 29 subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. 30 However, nothing in the provision shall be interpreted as 31 preventing school districts from prohibiting, limiting, or 32 restricting unprotected expression. 33 A school district shall not deny a student organization 34 any benefit or privilege available to any other student 35 -6- LSB 2485YH (4) 89 kh/jh 6/ 8

H.F. 568 organization. The provisions of the bill shall not be 1 interpreted as limiting the right of student expression in a 2 counter demonstration held in an outdoor area so long as the 3 conduct at the counter demonstration is not unlawful, does 4 not materially and substantially prohibit the free expression 5 rights of others or disrupt the functioning of the institution, 6 and does not impede others’ access to a facility or walkway. 7 PUBLIC FORUMS —— FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION. The outdoor 8 areas of school districts, which include public school 9 attendance centers operated by the school district, must be 10 deemed public forums. School districts may maintain and 11 enforce clear, published, reasonable viewpoint-neutral time, 12 place, and manner restrictions that are narrowly tailored in 13 furtherance of a significant institutional interest, shall 14 allow members of the school community to engage in spontaneous 15 expressive activity and to distribute literature, shall provide 16 for ample alternative means of expression, and, subject to 17 reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, shall not 18 designate any area of the school grounds a free-speech zone or 19 otherwise create policies restricting expressive activities 20 to a particular outdoor area. Such provisions shall not 21 be construed to grant individuals the right to disrupt the 22 expressive activity of a person or student organization if 23 the institution has reserved space in an outdoor area for the 24 person’s or organization’s activity. An institution shall not 25 deny any benefit or privilege to a student organization based 26 on the organization’s requirement that its leaders agree to and 27 support the organization’s beliefs. 28 REMEDIES, STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, AND IMMUNITY PROVISIONS. 29 A member of the school community aggrieved by a violation 30 of the provisions of the bill may file a complaint with the 31 board of directors of the school district and may assert such 32 violation as a defense or counterclaim. Such person has one 33 year after the day the cause of action accrues to bring a claim 34 for violation of the Code section. However, nothing in the 35 -7- LSB 2485YH (4) 89 kh/jh 7/ 8