We, the undersigned residents of Northfield, Williamstown, Washington, and Orange ask that the CVSU, Paine Mountain, and Echo Valley school boards amend the below-listed sections of the current policy titled "Student Distribution of Literature" in the following ways.  We ask that this be done in order that the policy might be in compliance with community attitudes, the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"...Superintendent/Principal may allow students to distribute these materials so long as they are in compliance with this policy."
Because compliance with the First Amendment is not optional, we ask that the word "may" be removed and the word "will" put in its place.

"...is obscene, vulgar, or profane, or harms the reputation of others..."
Because literature that merely "harms the reputation of others" (an over-broad definition pertaining to much protected and unprotected speech alike) is not per se excluded from First Amendment protection, and because such vague wording violates Fourteenth Amendment due process, we ask that this phrase be removed and replaced with "defamatory, libelous, or slanderous."

"...primarily seeks to advertise for sale products or services; or 
has fundraising as its primary purpose."
Because commercial speech receives only slightly diminished protections under the First Amendment, we ask that these two phrases (items 6 and 7 on the current policy) be removed and replaced with "seeks to advertise the sale of products or services that may not be legally purchased by minors."

"...shall be submitted to the superintendent/principal to review ahead of time in order to confirm that the literature does not fall in one of the prohibited categories listed above."
Because common post-"Kuhlmeier" jurisprudence indicates that the First Amendment bars the government from exercising prior review and prior restraint of non-school-sponsored media in public schools, we ask that this entire section be removed from the policy.

"...the materials must include the name of the person or organization sponsoring the literature..."
Because the reason for seeking to deny students' First-Amendment right to speak anonymously was to facilitate prior review/restraint, a practice which itself is rendered unconstitutional by post-"Kuhlmeier" jurisprudence, we ask that this requirement be removed from the policy.

In support of our petition, we submit the following materials:

1. The post-"Kuhlmeier" ruling on prior review/restraint by a federal appellate court in "Burch v. Barker";
2. This excerpt from a Student Press Law Center article;
3. This excerpt from a National Scholastic Press Association article;
4. This article from the Principal's Guide to Scholastic Journalism.

It is our belief that the requested changes are legally required; however, more important is our belief that, in all circumstances, our public educational institutions must err on the side of providing more, not less, protections of our children's Constitutional rights.  To do anything less would be to curtail our children's freedoms, deprive them of valuable growth/learning opportunities, and model to them poor adherence to the same First Amendment we teach in in our classrooms.

Thank you for your kind consideration.