8th-Grader Suspended for "Search[ing] for Inappropriate Topics," Such as "Worst WWI Gun"

[Fortunately, the N.Y. State Education Department has now reversed the decision, which had been made by the Valley Central School District (about 70 miles north of New York City).]

Eugene Volokh

Just read an interesting Aug. 19, 2020 opinion of N.Y. State Education Department Interim Commissioner Betty A. Rosa (just posted on Westlaw), Appeal of N.R. N.R. was an eight-grade student who was suspended for a month because of what he searched for on his school-issued computer and the key legal analysis:

[Valley Central School District's] letter charged that, on or about November 19, 2018, the student "searched for inappropriate topics" on his school-issued computer (the "Chromebook"). The notice of charges for the long-term suspension hearing identified the following searches, which the district alleged were inappropriate:

• What temperature does gasoline freeze at Fahrenheit;
• worst WWI gun;
• I will kill every drug addict;
• funniest ways to die;
• what's the sharpest knife;
• nitroglycerin explosion;
• is nitroglycerin really that unstable;
• the fastest gun firing rate;
• mother of all bomb explosion;
• what is the sign that death is near;
• is lidocaine legal; [and]
• kill shot ….

In a written recommendation dated December 20, 2018, the hearing officer recommended that the student be found guilty of the "charged misconduct by making inappropriate searched on his school-issued Chromebook." 

...[3.] Education Law §3214(3)(a) permits the suspension of "[a] pupil who is insubordinate or disorderly or violent or disruptive, or whose conduct otherwise endangers the safety, morals, health or welfare of others." … I cannot find that [the student's] searches violated either Education Law §3214 or the district policies identified in the notice of charges….
I agree with respondent that several of the terms for which the student searched—e.g. "the fastest gun firing rate," "nitroglycerin explosion," and "kill shot"—appeared violent on their face and warranted further investigation. At the hearing, however, the student testified as to his underlying reasons for conducting the searches, and none of these reasons were violent in nature. For example, the student testified that he searched for "kill shot" because he was looking for the lyrics to a popular song titled "killshot."
Similarly, the student testified that he searched for "nitroglycerin explosion" because he wanted to understand how nitroglycerin can be used as a medication for heart conditions when it was also used as an explosive during the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Indeed, the student's search history revealed that he had also searched for "what was nitroglycerin used for?" in close proximity to the "nitroglycerin explosion" search. The district notably did not submit any evidence to rebut the student's testimony during the hearing. Thus, there is no evidence in the record establishing that the student posed an actual threat of violence or had any violent intent when conducting the internet searches listed in the notice of the charge.

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Thus, the drawback, or indeed danger, of government-issued computers. They want to control everything you do on it. Note the following:

The district also implied at the hearing that the student violated district policy because some of his searches were unrelated to his schoolwork, rather than inherently inappropriate or violent in nature.

A student with a curious mind, who wants to explore topics other than those assigned by the government entity, can be suspended. Heaven forbid that he or she seek to expand their knowledge on a non-government-approved topic. No, no, no, that would prove to be "insubordinate" or "disruptive".