A new warning at TUSD board meetings is raising concerns that it could chill what people say to district leaders during a call to the audience.
Before anyone addresses the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board during its public meetings, they are now being told defamatory statements might expose them to "personal legal liability."
The new language, added to the fifth paragraph of a script read at board meetings before public comment, states: "Defamation includes false statements presented as facts about identifiable persons that could harm their reputation. Please note that making defamatory statements at a public meeting may expose the speaker to personal legal liability."
Governing Board Clerk Natalie Luna Rose first read the revised script at the board's May 26 meeting.
David J. Bodney, an Arizona-based First Amendment lawyer, said the new language in TUSD's script could have an unintended consequence of chilling protected speech on public issues by implying legal liability.
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"It's appropriate for a school board to encourage civil and courteous speech and to safeguard against unkind or injurious speech," Bodney said. "But the inclusion of this reference to 'defamation' risks foreclosing speech on matters of public concern that could not only be constitutionally protected but also useful to the school board and its members."
There was no board vote on the change.
Board member Luna Rose said the new language expands on an existing warning that's read during meetings that says people attending or speaking at board meetings must "observe rules of good conduct" and "refrain from inappropriate or defamatory remarks."
She rejected the idea that it has the potential to quell public criticism.
"Let me make this perfectly clear, this is to protect the speaker at the podium," Luna Rose said. She used the example that if speaker A defamed speaker B, then speaker B could file a civil complaint against speaker A.
"It wouldn't be the district going after someone ... it's not any sort of retaliation from the district," Luna Rose said.
She said since the new script is an expansion of existing meeting language rather than a policy change, it was not brought before the board for a public vote.
"It's just expanding," she said. "These decisions can be made by board leadership, so (board member) Dr. (Ravi) Shah and I discussed with our legal team and just asked to make it stronger."
"At this time, the district does not have any additional statement beyond what has already been provided," TUSD told the Star via email Friday afternoon in response to a request for comment from Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo.
While TUSD is one of the only school districts in the Tucson area to include a legal reference in its public-comment script, Amphitheater Public Schools does not permit any comments about specific personnel or students.
"Speakers should use appropriate decorum and conduct. Comments about specific personnel or student matters are not permitted," says one of two scripts Amphi uses. "Instead, complaints about District personnel should be submitted in writing consistent with Governing Board policies."
Other local districts, such as Catalina Foothills and Vail, do not refer to audience remarks or conduct at all.
"CFSD's Rules of Order do not include any language about defamation or personal legal liability," said Julie Farbarik, director of alumni and community relations for the Catalina Foothills School District. "Our instructions focus on the practical ground rules for public comment, such as time limits and the board's role during the call to the audience."
Tucson Unified School District’s headquarters at 1010 E. 10th St.
