## Facts

- A public school district adopted regulations governing “employee organizations,” including teacher associations competing for teacher membership.
- The district barred employee organizations from meeting or recruiting on school premises during school hours.
- The district interpreted and enforced the rules to prohibit teacher-members from discussing their association with other teachers on campus during the schoolday, including during non-instructional time (e.g., lunch, preparation periods, between classes).
- The district also barred employee organizations from using internal communication channels, including faculty mailboxes and bulletin boards, for association-related messages.
- The district justified the restrictions as necessary to prevent disruption of instruction, maintain order, and preserve neutrality among competing organizations.
- Teacher associations and individual teachers sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

## Issues

1. Whether the First Amendment permits a school district to prohibit teacher-to-teacher discussion of employee organizations during the schoolday, including non-instructional time.
2. Whether the district may exclude teacher associations from internal mail and bulletin board systems used for other communications.
3. Whether the district may prohibit outside representatives of employee organizations from entering school property during school hours to recruit or meet with teachers.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s summary judgment for the district.
- The court held unconstitutional the prohibition on teacher-to-teacher discussion of employee organizations during the schoolday when applied to non-instructional time and teacher-only settings.
- The court held unconstitutional the exclusion of employee organizations from internal mail and bulletin board facilities where such channels were otherwise available for staff communications.
- The court upheld restrictions limiting outside representatives’ access to school property during school hours and upheld reasonable time, place, and manner controls aimed at preventing disruption.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the partial invalidation of the district’s policy as applied.

## Legal Principles

- Teachers retain First Amendment rights at school; restrictions on their speech must be justified by legitimate school interests and may not be broader than necessary to prevent disruption.
- A blanket ban on teacher-to-teacher discussion of employee organizations during non-instructional time is an overbroad restraint on protected speech absent a showing of interference with instruction or school operations.
- When a school makes internal communication channels available for staff communications, excluding association-related messages must be reasonable and viewpoint-neutral; categorical exclusion based on associational content is constitutionally suspect.
- School property may be treated as a nonpublic forum for outsiders; restricting outside representatives’ access during school hours is permissible if reasonable and not a pretext for viewpoint discrimination.
- A claimed interest in “neutrality” among competing organizations does not, by itself, justify suppressing protected employee speech or selectively excluding viewpoints from established communication channels.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit required the district to permit teacher-to-teacher discussion of employee organizations during non-instructional time and to allow access to internal mail and bulletin boards on viewpoint-neutral terms, while allowing the district to bar outside organizers during school hours and to impose reasonable anti-disruption controls.


Tex. State Tchrs. Ass’n v. Garland Indep. Sch. Dist., 777 F.2d 1046 (5th Cir. 1985)