(Des Moines, Iowa) – This (Monday) morning the ACLU of Iowa sent a letter to the Atlantic Public School Board advising it to not adopt any policy that would unconstitutionally restrict students’ rights to protest. As KJAN News previously reported, during the May 10th Atlantic School Board meeting, Atlantic resident LeAnne Pellett, of Atlantic, spoke with regard to a student walk-out held March 1, 2023. The event was to protest what was termed in the online school newspaper, “anti-LGBTQIA+ bills being debated at the time in the Iowa legislature.

Pellett said was she speaking “On behalf of the citizen taxpayers” who were in attendance at the meeting, and “Many more citizens who were upset” about the event held on school property.

Pellett asked rhetorically, “Were opposing views on this protest ever presented to all persons?”

The ACLU letter says any policy the district might enact restricting student protest rights, would be an infringement on students’ First Amendment free speech rights.
You can read the letter here.

Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber told KJAN he was out of the district, Monday, and had not seen the letter in question, and therefore could not comment. He did say he will speak on the matter Tuesday, once he’s had time to review the ACLU’s comments.