Dist. 203 considers discipline for what's on student blogs

Naperville high school students who think being out of school means being out of the watchful eye of administrators had better think again.

Naperville Unit District 203 is considering a change to its co-curricular code that would subject students to disciplinary measures if they appear on Internet blog sites engaging in inappropriate behavior.

The code applies to all students involved in athletics and other school-sponsored clubs and activities.

In practice, the district already holds such students accountable for Web postings, but officials say they want to spell it out to make it perfectly clear Internet indiscretions are subject to possible punishment.

The district wants to "publicize to them the fact that when they're in a position doing something they're not supposed to be doing they run the risk of these things (disciplinary actions) happening," Naperville Central athletic director Marty Bee said.

When students are doing improper things on the Internet, he said, they run the risk of being seen by all sorts of people -- including school administrators.

"It's no longer something that's going to be kept quiet," Bee said. "It could be spread all over the country, and kids need to understand that."

Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128 was one of the first systems to approve such a policy in 2006. Naperville's proposed policy uses the same language, which states that "maintaining or being identified on a blog site which depicts illegal or inappropriate behavior will be considered a violation of this code."

Bee said the broadness of the language allows the district to determine the appropriateness of individual situations and confront students about their behavior if necessary.

"When we have pictures of kids doing something, it's pretty easy to sit down with them and say, 'Here it is, explain this to me,' " he said.

But administrators won't be spending their time surfing the Web looking for scofflaws. Bee said they will primarily deal with violations that are brought to their attention.

The code, which is in effect year-round and applies both at and away from school, is reviewed with students annually. Other rules include refraining from use of tobacco products, alcohol and other controlled substances. Theft, vandalism, violence and hazing also are violations.

Students who break the rules could be suspended from their sport or activity for either part or all of the season, based on the severity of the offense and prior offenses.

Several other suburban districts contacted Wednesday, including Elgin Area School District U-46, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 and Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200, all say while they don't have the language in their codes concerning depictions of inappropriate behavior on the Internet, they already reserve the right to discipline students for their actions regardless of where the evidence is found.

"We've operated from the perspective that extracurricular activities are a privilege, and if we think we have clear documented evidence we would act accordingly," said Jim Schmid, principal of Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora. "We look at every situation individually and investigate each individual situation."

District 200 officials agree the district would handle the issue the same way as any other evidence of wrongdoing brought to their attention.

"We could conduct an investigation and provide students the opportunity to tell their side of the story and explain," said Bob Rammer, director of communications. "We've all heard of PhotoShop, so certainly we want to be responsible and give students the presumption of innocence before we jump to any conclusion."

The District 203 school board likely will vote on the proposed policy addition when it meets April 21.

School board Vice President Susan Crotty said she heard positive reviews of the idea at a recent meeting of Home and School presidents.

"It's really more than athletics; it's about the safety of our students and that we hold them to a standard that we expect and the community expects," Crotty said. "It's really keeping up with the times."