An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 15 – Student Discipline

harassment and bullying. The Court therefore held that the school was within its rights to expel C.E. and suspend students who had liked or commented on C.E.’s Instagram posts. (There were a few students who followed C.E.’s account, but did not like or comment on any posts. The Court drew a distinction for those students, finding that endorsement of generally offensive or noxious speech is not the same as encouraging speech that targeted specific students, and that mere followers (as opposed to students who commented or liked posts) did not create a risk of substantial disruption from their conduct.)

D. R EGULATING C ONDUCT T HAT T AKES P LACE O UTSIDE O F S CHOOL In addition to the free speech issues above, schools also face jurisdictional questions on whether they can regulate conduct that occurs outside of school, regardless of whether a student is in elementary or high school. S.B. v. Saint James School 2161 A group of private school students attended an off-campus New Year’s Eve party that was not sponsored by the School. Following the party, two fourteen year old female students took nude photographs of themselves in lewd positions. The two female students e-mailed the photographs to two male students, who then proceeded to circulate the photographs to other students. Eventually, copies of the photographs were widely disseminated throughout the student body and permeated the School’s computer system. A School teacher anonymously received copies of the photographs and brought them to the School’s headmaster. The School was ultimately forced to shut down the computer system to remove all traces of the photographs.

The School’s handbook stated that students would be subjected to immediate expulsion for “[o]ff-campus behavior which is illicit, immoral, illegal and/or which reflects adversely on Saint James”. The School’s enrollment contract, which was signed by the parents of each student for the 2000-2001 year, stated that “[t]he student’s continued enrollment in Saint James School will be contingent upon the student’s compliance with school regulations as stated in the Student Handbook.” The Board of Directors of the School also had a policy manual that stated, in part, that “[t]he school is conducted within the framework of Judeo-Christian beliefs and values. The Board wishes to express its disapproval of student behavior, on or off campus, which should be reasonably characterized as inconsistent with such beliefs or which could be seen as being illicit, illegal, or immoral.” Following an investigation and discussion with the Board, the School’s headmaster decided to expel the two female students. The students and their families sued, in part, for breach of contract. In denying their breach of contract claim, the Court noted that the students and parents were on notice that off- campus behavior that was illicit, immoral, illegal or reflected poorly on the School would subject the student to immediate expulsion. Each student and

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