Supreme Court ruling will change how NC schools punish students for off-campus actions

A new U.S. Supreme Court ruling will put limits on what schools in North Carolina and elsewhere can do to suspend students for their off-campus behavior.

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Wednesday that a Pennsylvania high school violated a student’s First Amendment rights by punishing her for vulgar online comments she posted while she was off campus.

The ruling has significance because schools across the nation, including in North Carolina, have disciplined students for their off-campus activities if they felt it would cause a significant disruption at school.

Brandi Levy was a 14-year-old high school freshman in Pennsylvania in 2017 when she expressed her disappointment over not making the varsity cheerleading team on Snapchat with a string of curse words and a raised middle finger, the Associated Press reported.

Levy was not in school when she made her post, but she was suspended from cheerleading activities for a year anyway. according to the AP.

The justice upheld an appellate court’s ruling that Levy’s First Amendment rights were violated.

But the court said that schools could still discipline students for their off-campus behavior when it involves “serious or severe bullying or harassment targeting particular individuals” and “threats aimed at teachers or other students.”

The court also included examples such as the writing of papers, the use of computers, or participation in other online school activities and breaches of school security devices.

North Carolina students suspended for online posts

Over the years, North Carolina students have been disciplined for their various social media posts, including:

▪ In 2019, some Corinth-Holders High School students in Johnston County were disciplined for making racist comments in an online chat and talking about shooting Black people.

▪ In 2018, two Broughton High School students in Raleigh faced disciplinary action for separate Snapchat videos that included racist language such as the N-word.

▪ In 2017, three Leesville Road Middle School students in Raleigh were disciplined for an online video where they made racist remarks and chanted “KKK.”

▪ In 2017, an Apex Friendship student was disciplined for a Snapchat post that compared members of the school’s step team to freed slaves.