The Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." This is true for other fundamental rights, as well.
Know Your Rights: Back to School
Open the menus below to learn more about general students' rights in Maine schools.
Your First Amendment rights do not stop at the schoolhouse gates, though schools may place some restrictions on students' speech.
You have the right to speak out, hand out flyers and petitions, and wear expressive clothing in school — as long as you don’t disrupt the functioning of the school or interfere with the rights of others. Schools can adopt rules about speech, so long as they don’t treat different speakers differently depending on the message expressed.
What counts as “disruptive” will vary by context, but a school disagreeing with your position or thinking your speech is controversial or in “bad taste” is not enough to qualify. Courts have upheld students’ rights to wear things like an anti-war armband, an armband opposing the right to get an abortion, and a shirt supporting the LGBTQ community.
Courts have held that schools can restrict messages on clothing that:
Schools cannot restrict speech just because they find it offensive.
Schools can have rules that have nothing to do with the message expressed, like dress codes. For example, a school can prohibit you from wearing hats — because that rule is not based on what the hats say — but it can’t prohibit you from wearing only pink pussycat hats or pro-NRA hats.
Outside of school, you enjoy essentially the same rights to protest and speak out as anyone else. This means you’re likely to be most protected if you organize, protest, and advocate for your views off campus and outside of school hours, especially in public parks or public squares.
You have the right to speak your mind on social media, and your school cannot punish you for content you post off campus and outside of school hours that does not relate to school.
Public schools can have dress codes, but under federal and Maine law, dress codes can’t treat students differently based on their gender, force students to conform to sex stereotypes, or censor particular viewpoints.
Schools can’t create a dress code based on the stereotype that only girls can wear some types of clothes and only boys can wear other types of clothes. For example, your school can require that skirts must be a certain length, but it cannot require that some students wear skirts and prohibit others from doing so based on the students’ sex or gender expression. That also applies to pants, ties, or any other clothing associated with traditional gender roles.
Dress codes also must be enforced equally. For example, rules against “revealing” clothing, such as bans on tank tops or leggings, shouldn’t be enforced only, or disproportionately, against girls.
All students should be allowed to wear clothing consistent with their gender identity and expression, whether they identify as transgender or cisgender. This also applies to homecoming, prom, graduation, and other special school events. Schools shouldn’t require different types of clothing for special events based on students’ sex or gender identity — for example, requiring tuxedos for boys and prom dresses for girls.
Your school cannot punish you any more harshly for walking out in protest than it would for any other unexcused absence.
Click below to learn more about your rights when protesting or staging a walkout.
If you’re stopped by a police officer at your school, stay calm. Don’t argue, resist, run away, or otherwise interfere with the officer. Ask if you’re free to leave. If the answer is yes, calmly and silently walk away from the officer.
If the officer asks you a question, you have the right to remain silent. You also have the right to refuse to write or sign a statement. But if you waive these rights, anything you say, write, or sign can be used against you. And if you choose to make a statement, ask to have a lawyer, parent, or guardian present before you are questioned.
You can refuse to give your consent to be searched by the police. This may not stop the search, but this is the best way to protect your rights if you end up in court.
Don’t consent to a phone search; police need a warrant to search your phone. The same goes for a strip-search. No police officer or school employee has the authority to strip-search you.
Schools cannot discriminate against students on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
Undocumented children cannot be denied their right to a free public education, and schools should not require families to prove their immigration status in order to enroll their children in school. Students with limited English proficiency cannot be turned away by public schools, which must provide them with language instruction.
See all immigrant students' rights and school responsibilities to learn more about student privacy, immigration enforcement at school, and more.
Public schools are prohibited by federal and Maine law from discriminating against people with disabilities.
Schools cannot deny students with disabilities equal access to academic courses, field trips, extracurricular activities, school technology, and health services.
Educators and administrators must make reasonable academic and medical accommodations for students with disabilities. Schools cannot ignore harassment or bullying based on a student’s disability. Students should report harassment or threats to a principal or counselor. This puts the school on notice that officials can be held legally responsible for not protecting students.
LGBTQ students have a right to be who they are and express themselves in public schools.
Please note: Laws and policies in this area are changing quickly. The rules about protections for LGBTQ students might be changing, and some protections students had before could be different now.
Public schools have a responsibility to create a safe learning environment. They cannot ignore harassment based on a student’s appearance or behavior. Students should report harassment or threats to a principal or counselor. This puts the school on notice that officials can be held legally responsible for not protecting students.
Public schools cannot force students to wear clothing inconsistent with their gender identity.
If a public school permits any noncurricular clubs — clubs that aren’t directly related to classes taught in the school — then it must allow students to form a Gay-Straight Alliance or other LGBTQ-themed clubs, and the school can’t treat it differently from other noncurricular clubs.
Students’ transgender status and gender assigned at birth are confidential information protected by federal privacy law. If your school reveals that information to anyone without your permission, it could be violating federal law. If you don’t want school officials revealing your private information to others, including your legal name, tell them very clearly that you want your information kept private and that they should not disclose that information to anyone without your consent.
Maine law protects the right of transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. This is an area of the law that is changing a great deal right now.
Public schools and all schools that receive federal funds are prohibited from excluding pregnant or parenting students from school, classes, or extracurricular activities, or pressuring them to drop out or change schools.
These schools must provide pregnant students the same accommodations that students with other temporary medical conditions are given, including the ability to make up missed classwork, attend doctor’s appointments, take time off for childbirth and recovery, and learn in a safe environment.
These schools are not allowed to punish a student who chooses to terminate a pregnancy or reveal a student’s private medical information.
