One San Antonio, Texas, parent was shocked when Kitty Hawk Middle School refused to let her in the building without signing a “non-disclosure” agreement. They apparently were terrified she might tell her friends what posters and books are in the classrooms. That happens to be a direct violation of the Constitution.
School intimidates parents
It was clear to everyone except school administrators that requiring parents to sign away their rights to visit a child’s classroom is a direct violation of First Amendment rights.
The policy of requiring non-disclosure agreements from all campus visitors was revealed on August 15, when Amber Longacre had business there. It’s since been rolled back to avoid a sudden lawsuit.
Kitty Hawk Middle School serves the San Antonio, Texas community where Amber Longacre calls home. As soon as she hit the administration desk, the fun started. One by one, several staffers tried to talk her into simply signing the paper and forgetting about it.
Mother prevented from entering public school at Kitty Hawk Middle School, part of the Judson Independent School District in Texas for refusing to sign NDA was 'attempt to muzzle': lawyer https://t.co/kcfV9APcg9
— Old Man With A Pen (@ConservativeAd5) August 25, 2023
Ms. Longacre demanded to know what was going on in the indoctrination center so secret that it required an NDA? Those are legal documents typically used to prevent “sensitive information from being shared.”
Since the school wasn’t contracted to develop the Twitter ranking algorithm or anything, the administrators were hard pressed to explain why they required something “normally reserved for private employers who want to prevent leaks.”
That’s when Longacre “immediately became suspicious as to why a taxpayer-funded public building would curb free speech.”
Encourage other parents
“There is no way to know how many parents signed the NDA without asking any questions,” Longacre related later. “I shared my story because I want to encourage other parents to speak up when something seems off.”
Even though classes weren’t even in session yet, “several campus staffers, including the school resource officer, would not allow Longacre to enter the school to discuss the NDA.” She had to sign it, then they could talk about it.
“They were like, ‘Just sign it. What’s the big deal. Just sign it.‘” When attorney Janelle Davis heard about it, she flipped. Instead of running straight to the courthouse with a lawsuit, they set up a meeting between the mom and Assistant Superintendent of Operations Joseph Guidry.
Video footage shows Amber sitting with the Judson ISD Assistant Superintendent of Operations. They have no clue how this NDA came into place… pic.twitter.com/KAnkWlQDVh
— Chrissy Clark (@chrissyclark_) August 23, 2023
It was documented on video. “Guidry could not explain why Longacre was being asked to enter into an NDA and why the document appeared at visitor check-in kiosks at the administration building.” No school should need to do that, Aaron Terr, Director of Public Advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression confirms.
Once the district got a lawyer of their own, they quickly backed down. “After hiring a lawyer, the school district informed the middle school parent that the NDA was removed as a check-in requirement on August 22.” That’s the end of it for Ms. Longacre.
“I am grateful that Judson ISD recognized the error and removed the non-disclosure agreement from their visitor management system, and look forward to a good school year.” Since nobody knows how many other parents went ahead and signed the agreement already, the school district “agreed to revoke previous NDAs signed by parents.“
