This browser does not support the Video element.
Respect, civility policies at Pasco County schools
Jordan Bowen reports
LAND O'LAKES, Fla. - In some cases, passionate parents can get heated when addressing concerns with their child’s school and depending on how staff responds it could mean legal trouble for the district. It's why Pasco County Schools is proposing two new policies for addressing these types of scenarios.
Right now, maintaining civility between parents and staff is top of mind for the Pasco County School Board.
"We've had people yell at our bus drivers," Pasco County Schools District 2 board member Colleen Beaudoin said. "Coming into schools, screaming at secretaries,"
Last year, one parent sued the district in federal court after the superintendent reassigned her daughter to a different school. The district argued the parent's numerous complaints disrupted school operations, but the judge criticized the district for not having due process so as a response Pasco County Schools is now proposing two new policies.
The first policy 5120 addresses school reassignment and says "the superintendent shall develop procedures that ensure that appropriate due process is provided."
"We need to be civil. We need to be problem-solving oriented because after all, what we are trying to do is resolve issues that are impacting the lives of kids," Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning said.
The second policy 8380 is on respect and civility and lays rules of conduct for parents and staff.
"This proposed policy infringes on our First Amendment rights and is unconstitutionally vague," parent Tori Tiffany said.
As part of the policy, it prohibits "using loud and/or offensive language", "overly voluminous phone calls, emails" and "making continuous and unreasonable demands or ultimatums."
"Can you please define what is a continuous and unreasonable demand or ultimatum? Is sending an email that? Is that considered an unreasonable demand?" one parent questioned. "Define loud.
Is there a particular decibel level that we need to be aware of to indicate loud? That is very nebulous."
At Tuesday's meeting, board members seemed to take note of the concerns.
"They can be subjective, those words so I don't know if there's a better choice of words we can come up with," Pasco County Schools District 3 Chairman Cynthia Armstrong said.
A district spokesperson told FOX 13 late Wednesday, it’ll be reworking the policy as a result of the feedback to better define prohibited behavior.
"We're not trying to restrict people's freedom to say what they want to say. We just want them to say it in a way that might be more respectful," one board member said.
A final vote on the policies is scheduled for December 13.