3rd Circuit Upholds Elementary School Student's Right To Distribute Christmas Party Invitations

In K.A. v. Pocono Mountain School District, (3d Cir., March 12, 2013), the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the right of a 5th grade student to hand out invitations to her classmates to a Christmas party at her church when classmates are allowed to hand out invitations to birthday parties, Halloween parties and the like during non-instructional time. Affirming the district court's grant of a preliminary injunction (see prior posting), the court held that the Supreme Court's Tinker decision should apply in the elementary school context as well as for older students.  It said:

the Tinker analysis has sufficient flexibility to accommodate the educational, developmental, and disciplinary interests at play in the elementary school environment.

The court concluded: "the School District‘s failure in this appeal to identify any disruption caused by K.A.‘s invitation, makes it reasonably likely that K.A. will prevail in this litigation." AP reports on the decision.