Reminder: AISD policy limiting access to students by military recruiters

The 2019 - 2020 school year is beginning, and we remind all AISD teachers, staff, students, parents and military recruiters that AISD has a policy that places limits on access to students by military recruiters.  Please note especially that recruiters are not allowed to ask students directly for their contact information (point 8, below).  If recruiters want to hand a student their card, fine, but they should not ask students to write down their phone numbers.  If school staff or students see recruiters getting phone numbers from students or violating any of the other guidelines in the policy, this should be reported to the school principal.

Here is the AISD policy that applies to all military recruiters in Austin's public schools:

GKC (Local) AISD Policy regarding military recruiters on AISD campuses:

The following guidelines shall apply to recruiters on District campuses:

1. All recruiters shall first report to the campus main office to obtain a visitor’s badge each time they visit school property.

2. The principal shall designate specific areas on each campus for recruiting purposes. Recruiting may not occur at school athletic events or other school-sponsored events, unless specifically authorized by the principal.

3. Recruiters shall not continue ongoing contact when a student makes it clear by speech or other conduct that contact with the recruiter is unwelcome. In no event may recruiters meet with a student under the age of 18 years off campus without written consent submitted to a campus administrator by the student’s parent or guardian.

4. Evidence of a parent’s or guardian’s intent to provide directory information upon request shall be respected. [See FL]

5. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test shall be administered according to the same terms and conditions as other aptitude tests administered within the District. District schools shall select “Option 8” on the ASVAB test prior to the administration of the ASVAB at the school to ensure consistency with the opt-out provisions for release of contact information to the military.

6. Recruiting of any kind shall not be permitted at a time, place, and manner that disrupts classroom instruction. Recruiting in a classroom or other designated space shall be acceptable if it is at the invitation of authorized school personnel and part of a school-approved program.

7. Schools shall allow information regarding recruiting, including recruiting by the military and those advocating alternatives to the military, to be made available to students in an equivalent manner and location.

8. Recruiters shall not solicit student contact information directly from a student or require such information as a condition to participate in an activity or to receive an award or gift.

If a visitor fails to comply with the general rules or guidelines set out in this policy, the principal or other campus administrator may deny the visitor access to the campus in accordance with law. If a military recruiter fails to comply with the guidelines set out in this policy, the principal or other campus administrator may contact the military recruiter's supervisor to report the failure to comply and request that such individual not return to the campus.

   

AISD district policy regarding military recruiters on campuses

With the start of the 2017/18 school year, the office of the Legal Counsel for AISD is sending out a reminder, as they have in previous years, about the AISD policy regarding military recruiters on campuses.  This is an important policy that is designed to protect student privacy.  Special note should be made of Point 8: recruiters are prohibited from asking students to fill out cards giving recruiters their contact information.   If students or staff witness violations of this policy, they should contact their principals.  If you see something, please say something.

Here is the policy, as stated in the Community Relations section, GKC Local:

The following guidelines shall apply to recruiters on District campuses:

1. All recruiters shall first report to the campus administrative office to obtain a visitor’s badge each time they visit school property.

2. The principal shall designate specific areas on each campus for recruiting purposes. Recruiting may not occur at school athletic events or other school-sponsored events, unless specifically authorized by the principal.

3. Recruiters shall not continue ongoing contact when a student makes it clear by speech or other conduct that contact with the recruiter is unwelcome. In no event may recruiters meet with a student under the age of 18 years off campus without written consent submitted to a campus administrator by the student’s parent or guardian.

4. Evidence of a parent’s or guardian’s intent to provide directory information upon request shall be respected. [See FL]

5. The Armed Serves Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test shall be administered according to the same terms and conditions as other aptitude tests administered within the District. District schools shall select “Option 8” on the ASVAB test prior to the administration of the ASVAB at the school to ensure consistency with the opt-out provisions for release of contact information to the military.

6. Recruiting of any kind shall not be permitted at a time, place, and manner that disrupts classroom instruction. Recruiting in a classroom or other designated space shall be acceptable if it is at the invitation of authorized school personnel and part of a school-approved program.

7. Schools shall allow information regarding recruiting, including recruiting by the military and those advocating alternatives to the military, to be made available to students in an equivalent manner and location.

8. Recruiters shall not solicit student contact information directly from a student or require such information as a condition to participate in an activity or to receive an award or gift.

If a visitor fails to comply with the general rules or guidelines set out in this policy, the principal or other campus administrator may deny the visitor access to the campus. If a military recruiter fails to comply with the guidelines set out in this policy, the principal or other campus administrator may contact the military recruiter's supervisor to report the failure to comply and request that such individual not return to the campus.

Career Fair at Reagan HS

Today, we participated for the third year in the annual Reagan HS career fair.  It's one of the only high schools that still does career fairs, and it's a good opportunity to meet other folks who are providing post-high school options to students.  We learned from an Americorps member who helps Reagan students with college prep that 15 Reagan students plan to graduate this spring with not only their HS diploma, but with an Associates Degree from ACC through the Early College program at Reagan.  That shows a lot of hard work.

Hart counting pennies from the Penny Poll jars after the career fair

We appreciated having the opportunity to talk with students, and the t-shirt challenge elicited some good comments from students and staff, too.  As always, the Penny Poll showed strong support for funding Education (31% of the penny votes) and Health Care (28%), and 21% for the Environment, 13% for the Military and 7% for Humanitarian Aid. When students see the tape unfold showing actual government spending priorities, we can see the surprise on their faces.  The tape shows 6% for Education.

Susana showing the graph of actual federal spending after student votes in Penny Poll

The down side of the day was seeing Army and Navy recruiters there who were asking students to fill out forms with their contact information.  I went over and showed them the written AISD policy prohibiting that, but the Navy recruiters continued to ask students to fill out the forms throughout the career fair, directly flouting AISD policy.  We are following up with AISD about this.

Our reflection poster received thoughtful responses, as always.  The question was:  Which Super-villain do you want to fight:  Sexism, Racism, Ecocide, Poverty or War -- and how?

  And one student said that she would fight against Trump, because he represented all the super-villains!  We don't promote candidates at our tables, but we appreciated that response!

Thanks, Reagan students, for visiting our table and sharing your thoughts with us.

Austin Monitor piece about AISD recruiter restrictions is corrected

Better late than never:  The AISD Media Relations person contacted The Austin Monitor to correct his quote about the new AISD policy of restrictions to recruiter access on high school campuses.  Here is the edited piece that was originally published on November 2, 2015.

Monday, November 2, 2015 by Courtney Griffin

AISD

AISD tightens military access to students

Military recruiters seeking to sign up future servicemen and -women will have less access to Austin Independent School District students than they did one year ago. On Monday, board members unanimously adopted new language in the district’s visitors policy that clarifies exactly where military recruiters can and cannot go.

In accordance with federal laws, schools are required to disclose student names, addresses and telephone numbers to military recruiters on request. However, middle and high school students or parents can stipulate that personal information remain undisclosed unless parents provide written consent. State and federal laws also allow military recruiters the same access to high school students as other organizations promoting jobs or career possibilities. So often, military recruiters will stand alongside other organizations at job fairs.

However, AISD media relations coordinator Jacob Barrett told the Austin Monitor that there have been situations in which military recruiters have acted more like baseball or football scouts rather than staying behind the familiar cafeteria table handing out brochures.

“There have been a few cases in past years of recruiters showing up at extracurricular activities when students wished to not be approached,” Barrett said. “But those were isolated incidents that were addressed and corrected.”

Nevertheless, Barrett said the district wanted to ensure that AISD had a policy in place to protect students to the highest degree. The new policy now states that military recruiters cannot attend school-sponsored events without a principal’s authorization, are not allowed to meet off-campus with students under 18 without parental consent submitted to a campus administrator, cannot directly ask students for contact information and cannot ask students for contact information as a stipulation for awards or gifts. Principals are allowed to deny campus access to military recruiters if any policies are violated.

In addition, the board approved stronger guidelines for students who take the military’s admissions and placement test. Previously, all students who took the test had their scores sent to military recruiters. Now, students can choose whether to make their scores available.

The changes sat well with several members of Sustainable Options for Youth, who spoke during Monday’s public comment portion of the meeting. Sustainable Options for Youth is a nonprofit organization that tables at AISD school events to promote nonmilitary options for students after high school.

Susan Van Haitsma, a member of the organization, praised trustees’ new additions to the previous 2006 policy.

“In the years since then, we have become aware of several loopholes that have allowed recruiters to contact students even if their parents or guardians have requested otherwise,” she said. “Even more seriously, we learned that over a four-year period, three military recruiters in Austin were charged in sexual assault cases with area high school students.”

Van Haitsma said that Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago school districts have policies similar to AISD’s new one.
Barrett said the district is not aware of any AISD students who were sexually assaulted by military recruiters.

Update: Though he was not aware of it when this article was first published, Barrett clarified to the Austin Monitor that Sustainable Options for Youth provided information to the AISD Board of Trustees about sexual assault cases involving AISD students in 2014 which led to the policy change. Both of those assault cases were also covered in the Austin American-Statesman at the time.

District 3 Trustee Ann Teich thanked the speakers for their passion for limiting the reach of military recruiters within AISD schools.

“Instructional Training Exercises at RTC Great Lakes” by U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Preston Keres. (RELEASED) – [1] from [2]. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.

- See more at: http://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2015/11/aisd-tightens-military-access-to-students/#sthash.yIgtoxQS.dpuf

Recruiters on AISD campuses must observe new limits

As we noted, last Monday, October 26, the AISD school board passed a new policy that will more tightly restrict access by military recruiters to students in our public schools in Austin.  The new policy is here.  A notice about this was included in a segment on KUT Austin public radio news today.

Our group first brought this proposal forward about a year ago after discovering that, of 3 reported cases, between 2008 and 2011, of local military recruiters charged in sexual assaults of area high school students,  only one of the cases had resulted in a conviction.  In the other two cases, which we researched through court documents, the recruiters had reportedly first met the students on AISD campuses, continued their contact through inappropriate texting, convinced the students to meet with them and then assaulted them off campus.  Reading the court records convinced us that serious crimes against underage students had been committed, but the investigations were dropped after numerous postponements, possibly because of reluctance by the victims to relive the trauma of the assaults.

Our group looked at other district policies around the country regarding recruiters in schools.  We had also noticed ways in our own district that recruiters were getting around the SR-290 opt-out box to obtain student contact information, either directly from the students, by telling them to write down their contact info on cards at their recruiting tables, or through administering the ASVAB test on campuses without parental input.  The new limits we proposed were all included in other cities' district policies and were chosen to directly address both the loopholes in the current recruiter policy and the very serious allegations of recruiter sexual abuse.

In our meetings with district staff, we stressed that sexual assault is a major problem within the military, and we believe that it stems from a military culture of sexism, tolerance of sexual violence and a history of retaliation against whistle-blowers.  The last several years have seen much more media attention to this entrenched problem, and we sincerely hope that the increased awareness, mostly achieved through the courage of survivors who have spoken out, will lead to change.  However, the failure of Congress to pass legislation that would have increased accountability by taking prosecution of crimes outside of the military chain of command makes us think that change will be slow in coming.  In the meantime, the serious problem of sexism and sexual assault in the military affects civilian institutions as well, including our public schools, as long as recruiting is allowed on campuses.

      

New Policy for Recruiters on high school campuses in AISD

Yesterday, October 26, 2015, the AISD School Board passed the following policy regarding military recruiters in the schools.  This adds several new measures to the policy that has been in place since 2006.  Among them is requiring that all schools that administer the ASVAB test now use Option 8 in their use of the test results.  Option 8 in the ASVAB Counselor's Manual stipulates "No recruiter contact from this listing of student results.  Results not released to recruiting Military Services."  If students who take the ASVAB wish to use their results toward enlistment, they can do so on their own volition.

We thank AISD staff who met with us over the past year to move the process along, and we trust that the new policy will be communicated widely to recruiters, their command units, school counselors and all school staff who can provide oversight to make sure the policy is followed.

 The following guidelines shall apply to recruiters on District campuses:

1. All recruiters shall first report to the campus administrative office to obtain a visitor’s badge each time they visit school property. 

2. The principal shall designate specific areas on each campus for recruiting purposes. Recruiting may not occur at school athletic events or other school-sponsored events, unless specifically authorized by the principal. 

3. Recruiters shall not continue ongoing contact when a student makes it clear by speech or other conduct that contact with the recruiter is unwelcome. In no event may recruiters meet with a student under the age of 18 years off campus without the written consent submitted to a campus administrator by the student’s parent or guardian. 

4. Evidence of a parent’s or guardian’s intent to provide directory information upon request shall be respected. [See FL] 5. The Armed Serves Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test shall be administered according to the same terms and conditions as other aptitude tests administered within the District. District schools shall select “Option 8” on the ASVAB test prior to the administration of the ASVAB at the school to ensure consistency with the opt-out provisions for release of contact information to the military. 

6. Recruiting of any kind shall not be permitted at a time, place, and manner that disrupts classroom instruction. Recruiting in a classroom or other designated space shall be acceptable if it is at the invitation of authorized school personnel and part of a school-approved program. 

7. Schools shall allow information regarding recruiting, including recruiting by the military and those advocating alternatives to the military, to be made available to students in an equivalent manner and location. 

8. Recruiters shall not solicit student contact information directly from a student or require such information as a condition to participate in an activity or to receive an award or gift.

 If a visitor fails to comply with the general rules or guidelines set out in this policy, the principal or other campus administrator may deny the visitor access to the campus. If a military recruiter fails to comply with the guidelines set out in this policy, the principal or other campus administrator may contact the military recruiter's supervisor to report the failure to comply and request that such individual not return to the campus.

Reminder: Austin School District Policy re. Recruiting on Campus

The new 2008/09 school year will soon begin. Here is an important reminder:

On June 12, 2006, the board of trustees of the Austin Independent School District approved a new policy that places limits on access by military recruiters on school campuses.

1. All recruiters will check in at the school's administration office and get a visitor badge every time they go onto school property.

2. Specific areas will be designated by the principal on each campus for recruiting purposes.

3. No on-going contact shall occur when students make clear by their speech or other conduct that contact with a recruiter is unwelcome.

4. Evidence of a parent's/guardian's intent to provide directory information upon request shall be respected. [See Policy FL LEGAL] (This refers to the new opt-out provision on the SR-290 form. See below.)

5. The ASVAB test (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) shall be administered pursuant to the same terms and conditions as other aptitude tests administered within the District. (ASVAB testing is voluntary and should never be presented as compulsory. Students who have opted out of sharing directory information (Form SR-290) should be excluded from any such testing or other contact with the military in the absence of explicit written parental permission.)

6. Recruiting of any kind shall not occur in a manner, time and place that disrupts classroom instruction. Recruiting in a classroom or other designated space is acceptable only if upon the invitation of authorized school personnel and part of a school-approved program.

7. Schools will allow information regarding recruiting, including recruiting by the military, and those advocating alternatives to the military, to be made available to students in an equivalent manner and location.

NOTE: Point # 4 of the new policy refers to a clear opt-out provision for parents/guardians to withhold their directory information from military recruiters while allowing the information to be made available to college reps or other organizations that request it.
AISD officials have added a new section under "Directory Information" on the new SR-290 form that parents/guardians are asked to fill out in the fall. The wording on the new SR-290 form for 2006-07 is as follows:
There are two boxes in the Directory Information section. On the left is a box where parents can sign either "I GIVE" or "I DO NOT GIVE" "permission to release directory information."
On the right side is the same kind of box reading "I GIVE" or "I DO NOT GIVE" "permission to release student directory information to military recruiters."