Becker schools rescind communication policy union called 'gag order'

Less than a week after the Becker school district was sued by its local teachers union over new district communication guidelines implemented in May, the school board has rescinded its controversial policy.

The board met in a closed session Tuesday to discuss the pending litigation with legal counsel and, after reopening the meeting, voted unanimously to rescind the policy.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 18 in Sherburne County District Court, states the communication plan violates the free speech provision of the state constitution, as well as several state laws, because it bans teachers from saying anything that is not positive about the district to the public.

The local teachers union, Becker Education Association, announced Wednesday it will withdraw the lawsuit, but stated in a release it "retains the right to refile if the board adopts a similarly problematic policy."

"We're relieved. The Becker community deserves to hear the unfiltered truth from classroom educators about what's happening in our schools, both the successes and things we need to improve," said Jason Baune, one of the co-presidents of the local union. "Becker teachers hope to work with the school board in the future to provide students the best education possible."

When the board approved the communication plan on May 2, School Board Chair Mark Swanson said people should understand "this is the first generation of this communication plan and we'll continue to look for further improvements."

But the local teachers union, as well as the state teachers union Education Minnesota, said the policy went too far and was a "gag order" on teachers.

Swanson said Tuesday he supports revising the plan to implement in the future.

"We're disappointed that we've had to go through this adversarial process in working through that communication plan," he said. "We're also disappointed, as we stated in the district's statement to the media, that the lawsuit misconstrues the purpose and the effect of the district plan, as well as the goals and objectives that were stated on May 2."

Superintendent Jeremy Schmidt declined to comment Wednesday on the communication plan or lawsuit. But when describing the plan at the May board meeting, he said the goal of the policy was to set guidelines for communication inside and outside the district, as well as standardize the district's branding with use of the bulldog emblem and e-mail signatures.

Schmidt said the policy bans employees from talking about student or personnel matters outside the district and creates a chain of command that directs questions from nonemployees to him, which helps "protect our staff from feeling like they have to make comments to the media when they are inquired with."

The lawsuit contended the policy was so broad it bars staff from complying with the state's statute on the mandatory reporting of child abuse, as well as prohibits educators from talking about the effects of budget cuts on students at school board meetings.

The communications policy and another controversial proposed policy banning "divisive" concepts are seen by some as a response to recent debates in the district over Pride flags in classrooms and calls for equity in regard to LGBTQ students.

The lawsuit contended Becker school district has an image problem following recent controversies and, instead of apologizing, the district doubled down by imposing the restrictions on staff and their ability to speak about the district.

In the news release, union leaders also said they will resist the proposed policy banning "divisive" concepts if it comes back in front of the board for consideration. In early August, the board tabled the discussion on the proposed policy so it can be reviewed by legal counsel; as of Friday, the legal review had not yet been completed, Schmidt said.