Opinion ID: 568042
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Relation of the School's Actions to Pedagogical Interests

Text: 22 The school in this case put Miles on paid administrative leave during the investigation and placed a letter of reprimand in his file. The brief administrative leave allowed the school to investigate the incident and to disassociate itself from the speech; thus, the leave was directly tied to the interest of avoiding the appearance that the comment was sponsored by the school or in any way reflected the views of the school administration. The letter of reprimand stated only that Miles should refrain from the same kinds of comments as those involved in the incident. The letter was specific in articulating the school's interest: it admonished a teacher to refrain from commenting on items that would reflect negatively on individual members of the student body. That portion of the reprimand--particularly when viewed in the context of the incident for which Miles knew he was being reprimanded--serves the precise legitimate pedagogical interests articulated by the school. We hold that the school acted reasonably under the circumstances of this case where the actions taken were directly related to the school's legitimate pedagogical interests. 23 Miles' argument regarding the vagueness and overbreadth of the reprimand invites us to tailor the language or to pick an appropriate action for the school. We decline to do so. Having found that the school had legitimate pedagogical interests and that the actions taken were reasonably related to those interests, we will not interfere with the authority of the school officials to select among alternative forms of discipline. We will protect appropriate constitutional interests. We should not and will not run the schools.