The ACLU of Southern California alleges the Los Angeles Unified School District’s social media policy — and how some schools interpret those rules — violates parents’ First Amendment rights.
The policy in question prohibits “inappropriate threatening, harassing, racist, biased, derogatory, disparaging or bullying comments toward or about any student, employee or associated person on any website.”
The district’s definition of “associated persons” includes parents and school volunteers.
“ The government has no right to tell parents that they can't criticize school officials [or] schools,” said Peter Eliasberg, chief counsel at the ACLU of Southern California. “It's kind of outrageous. The government has to accept criticism and a parent who thinks that the school is doing a bad job of educating their child is free to say exactly that on social media ... or any other place.”
The district said in a statement to LAist that the policy in question is under review.
The concerns of a group of parents from Venice’s Broadway Elementary School were the catalyst for the letter.
First Amendment 101
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The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects free expression, free press, the right to assemble, the right to petition the government and the expression of religion.
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The government, which includes public schools, cannot create laws that limit these actions or punish you for exercising your rights.
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There are circumstances where First Amendment rights can be limited. Examples include restrictions on government employees, and specific categories of speech including incitements of violence, defamation, and fraud.
The backstory
This summer, LAUSD removed the principal of Broadway Elementary School in Venice. The decision prompted criticism from some families and educators, including comments online and at school board meetings.
In mid-August, an LAUSD administrator sent a message to Broadway Elementary School families with updates about the new school year. The letter referred to “anything that occurred before Aug. 17, 2025.”
It went on to list “prohibited behaviors” including making "defamatory, offensive or derogatory comments regarding the school, school staff or parents/guardians made publicly to others.”
Regional Director Agnes Kamau wrote that multiple violations could lead to a ban on entering campus for the school year with a few exceptions, including for parent-teacher meetings.
A lawyer with the district responded to the ACLU letter on Sept. 9 and said no student, employee or campus visitor at Broadway had been disciplined after the letter was sent.
What was the harm?
Eliasberg said regardless of whether any parent was punished, the policy in-and-of itself could have a chilling effect.
“It may very well be that what happens here is that parents engage in self-censorship,” Eliasberg said.
Broadway Elementary School sent another email to families Monday, removing “offensive or derogatory comments regarding the school, school staff or parents/guardians made publicly to others” from the previous list of prohibited behaviors.
“However, please remember that we are a school community that is safe and supportive of each other in creating a positive school climate,” the letter reads. The author asked parents to contact the school’s principal or district leadership with concerns or questions.
Alyssa Cendrowski is the parent of a kindergartner and a third-grader at the school. She said the messages from the district have made her feel like families are “under a microscope."
“There are a lot of tensions at the school, and yes, we need to heal,” Cendrowski said. “There's a right way of going about that, and there's a very threatening way to go about it and it feels like the latter is being used right now.”
LAUSD’s broader social media policy
LAUSD leaders issued the district-wide social media policy in 2018. The 10-page document includes guidelines for both employees and “associated persons,” which includes parents.
The ACLU doesn’t take issue with the entirety of the policy. For example, the rules about sharing student information (such as grades) only on district-approved connections.
The bulk of their argument is related to this paragraph:
“Posting inappropriate threatening, harassing, racist, biased, derogatory, disparaging or bullying comments toward or about any student, employee or associated person on any website is prohibited and may be subject to discipline.”
Eliasberg cites multiple cases where the courts have struck down attempts to limit this kind of speech.
“The First Amendment simply does not allow the government and government officials to condition peoples’ right to speak on whether they act as a cheerleader or critic of the government or its employees,” Eliasberg wrote.
The organization asked the district to, at minimum, not enforce the social media policy — and ideally to rescind the policy.
LAist asked David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, to review the district’s policy and the ACLU’s claims.
“ It's not that often you see policies that are this clearly problematic under the First Amendment,” Snyder said.
Snyder said while there is precedent for schools to restrict the speech of students and employees in some cases, the same is not true of parents.
“ It's fairly flatly, unconstitutional to say that a parent or a volunteer cannot post — and I'm quoting from the policy — ‘threatening, harassing, racist, biased, derogatory, disparaging comments’ on social media.”
What are legal limits to free speech?
There are types of speech that are not protected under the First Amendment.
For example, “true threats” — those that express a serious intent to commit unlawful violence — could be subject to punishment and even criminal sanction, Snyder said. Harassment can also reach a criminal level.
“School districts or individual school leaders have a panoply of options to lawfully protect their students as they should,” Snyder said.
In a statement to LAist, an LAUSD spokesperson confirmed that it received the ACLU’s message, was reviewing the policy and “takes these concerns seriously.”
“The district is also reviewing the communication and its policies to ensure compliance with legal requirements,” the spokesperson wrote. “As with any policy, the district will update its materials consistent with current legal standards.”
