by the way, here is the speech I gave. I added a couple things and took a couple things out as I went along, but this is more or less the speech. It's a letter I wrote to the Board's secretary last week that was never responded to:
Ms. Wills,
I spoke with you on the phone at the end of the Fall semester, when I first noticed that the Board of Trustees had passed new policy, severely restricting freedom of expression at Riverside Community College.
The enforcement of this policy is the most recent in a series of steps that the district has taken to prevent me from notifying the public about corruption within RCC. When I posted my first batch of APPROVED flyers, they were removed without anyone notifying me. I was later told that the flyers were libelous. My permanent school record was threatened. I redesigned my flyers, got them approved AGAIN, and again they were removed. This time, I was led on a wild goose chase, with nobody taking responsibility for removing the flyers. In total, my flyers were torn down about four times, before I eventually caught faculty removing them ON VIDEO. This video is now part of my blog at *link removed*. Shortly after confronting the school with this video, the Board's new posting policy was implemented.
On the phone with you, I asserted that the Board's policy changes were in violation of the rights of RCCD students, and I strongly urged the Board to revert to its old policy.
Since no action was taken, I can assume that the Board is either unable or unwilling to take me seriously without the citation of specific California law.
The Board's new policy can be found here: *link removed*
The old policy can be found here: *link removed*
Whereas an abundance of locations for posting flyers existed on the Riverside campus (easily over one hundred), there now exists only one campus location for pinning up flyers. The rest of the bulletin boards are now off-limits. I did find one other bulletin board which adhered to the new policy, but no sooner did I place a flyer on the board, than the flyer was removed and the bulletin board was reassigned for use by ASRCC only.
According to Title 5, Division 6, Chapter 2, Subchapter 1 (Minimum Conditions), Section 51023.7 of the California Code of Regulations:
(2) Except in unforeseeable, emergency situations, the governing board shall not take action on a matter having a significant effect on students until it has provided students with an opportunity to participate in the formulation of the policy or procedure or the joint development of recommendations regarding the action.
(b) For the purposes of this Section, district and college policies and procedures that have or will have a "significant effect on students" includes the following:
(2) codes of student conduct;
RCC, did not "[provide] students with an opportunity to participate in the formulation of the policy or procedure..." Rather, this new policy was passed in silence, just before Winter break (November 29th, 2010). Students began their Winter session with the new policy in place, and with no say in the matter.
Furthermore, California Education Code, Section 76120, states:
The governing board of a community college district shall
adopt rules and regulations relating to the exercise of free
expression by students upon the premises of each community college
maintained by the district, which shall include reasonable provisions
for the time, place, and manner of conducting such activities.
Such rules and regulations shall not prohibit the right of
students to exercise free expression including, but not limited to,
the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed materials or
petitions, and the wearing of buttons, badges, or other insignia,
except that expression which is obscene, libelous or slanderous
according to current legal standards, or which so incites students as
to create a clear and present danger of the commission of unlawful
acts on community college premises, or the violation of lawful
community college regulations, or the substantial disruption of the
orderly operation of the community college, shall be prohibited.
This sections seems to make the new policy illegal on its face, since the policy limits the use of virtually every bulletin board in the school, while this section specifically restricts schools from placing limitations on the usage of bulletin boards. It would appear that both the policy itself and the means by which it was developed and approved are in violation of the CCR and CEC.
Thus, RCC has violated CCR requirements for Minimum Conditions for students.
According to Title 5, Division 6, Chapter 2, Subchapter 2 (Enforcement), Section 51100 of the California Code of Regulations:
(b) The Chancellor shall investigate complaints alleging that a district is failing to comply substantially with the minimum conditions contained in subchapter 1 and shall establish guidelines for accepting and handling such complaints.
Regarding the CCR section that I have just cited, I filed a complaint against RCCD with the Chancellor of California Community Colleges, Jack Scott. I filed this complaint on 1/19. On 1/20, I was informed that the office's legal affairs team is reviewing my complaint.
Again, I urge the Board to take action. It would be in everyone's best interest if the Board did this before Mr. Scott's office begins its investigation, and before I arrive at the Board's next meeting on the 25th.
