(a) An LEA shall not be required to provide a limited public forum pursuant to this part. If the LEA determines that it is appropriate to allow a student speaker at a school event, then this part shall apply.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 49-6-1803

  • limited public forum: means public property that the LEA provides for students as a place for expressive activity which may impose reasonable, content-neutral time, place and manner restrictions on certain groups or topics of speech. See Tennessee Code 49-6-1801
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) To ensure that an LEA does not discriminate against a student’s publicly stated voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, and to eliminate any actual or perceived affirmative school sponsorship or attribution to the LEA of a student’s expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, an LEA shall adopt a policy, such as the model policy for student expression as created by the Tennessee school boards association, or the LEA may develop a policy that is in compliance with this part. The policy shall include the establishment of a limited public forum for student speakers at school events at which a student is to publicly speak. The policy regarding the limited public forum shall also require the LEA to:

(1) Provide the forum in a manner that does not discriminate against a student’s voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject;
(2) Provide a method, based on neutral criteria, for the selection of student speakers at school events and graduation ceremonies;
(3) Ensure that a student speaker does not engage in speech that is obscene, vulgar, offensively lewd, indecent or promotes illegal drug use; and
(4) State, in writing, orally, or both, that the student’s speech does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position, or expression of the LEA.
(c) The LEA disclaimer required by subdivision (b)(4) shall be provided at all applicable circumstances at school events. The LEA shall also provide the disclaimer for any communications in which a student makes a public expression, for as long as a need exists to dispel confusion over the LEA’s nonsponsorship of the student’s communications.
(d) Student expression on an otherwise permissible subject may not be excluded from the limited public forum because the subject is expressed from a religious viewpoint.
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