14
NEWS
RED SHIRTS
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | MAY 16, 2018
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are eyes out there,” said Kyrene Assistant Superintendent Mark Knight at the district’s governing board meeting May 8. Chandler Unified Superintendent Camille Castille told teachers and staff in a memo: “Now that #RedForEd has morphed into #InvestInEd, the rules have changed. Districts, schools and individuals will be under more scrutiny.” “To ensure we are all meeting the letter of the law, especially as we gather more information, we are going to prohibit all shirts with political messages,” Castille added. “You can wear red on Wednesday, but there can be no politically related message on your clothing. And please remember to not engage with students on this topic.” The warnings reflect district officials’ sensitivity to the fact that not everyone agreed with the walkout and that teachers and other #RedforEd supporters with district jobs are vulnerable. “Our job is not to police but to protect,” said Kyrene Superintendent. “We want to keep our teachers safe.” That would mean safe from penalties that the law provides – and that the Legislature several years ago increased. More-
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Staff Photographer)
Red shirts with messages on them like these worn at a demonstration outside Kyrene Schools headquarters could expose area teachers to fines for violating a state law that prohibits school district employees from any form of politicking while on school grounds.
over, Knight noted, those penalties cannot be paid by the district or insurance but must come out of the individual’s pocket. And they can be assessed on every individual act deemed against the law. In
other words, wearing a shirt with a political message on five different days could mean five separate offenses with a potential maximum total penalty of $30,000. Kyrene officials stressed that their warnings are normal during any election
year and that they routinely make them during years when overrides are on the ballot. But Mesa school officials, like their Chandler Unified counterparts, said #RedforEd-turned-InvestforEd is a particularly significant consideration. “We don’t track calls, but we jumped on this fairly quickly to help answer questions we knew our districts would soon have,” said Mesa Public Schools spokeswoman Heidi Hurst. Mesa schools General Council Tom Pickrell issued a stern warning to staff last Friday, calling for “a return to our traditional rule that teachers and other staff members will not wear T-shirts that convey, directly or indirectly, a political, religious or moral message while on duty.” “The traditional standard regarding message T-shirts was relaxed in the days before the RedforEd walkout because, frankly, more teachers were wearing RedforEd T-shirts than not,” Pickrell continued. “The walkout is now over, The Legislature approved a state budget that will enable our governing board to substantially improve salaries.” Calling the message ban “a reasonable effort to avoid nedless controversies,” he See
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