The fallout of the federal court order against Pennsbury School District may have implications for neighboring educational systems, and perhaps further than that. Maddie Hanna addressed the development for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The order came from U.S. District Judge Gene Pratter, responding to an Oct. 1 suit filed by four residents in the Pennsbury School District. Their complaint cited censorship, limitation, and disruption of their public comments at district meetings.

“The First Amendment protections for free speech apply to speaking at public school board meetings,” Pratter wrote.

She agreed that the school board’s policies regarding public comments it deemed inappropriate or offensive were an overreach.

Pennsbury plans to appeal, an action that could lead to a decision binding on all school systems in the nine counties of the federal court’s Eastern District.

Many of these policies are based on a template recommended by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, which may have to suspend its model, considering the court action.

Plaintiffs in the case included Simon Campbell, former Pennsbury school board member. He was represented in the action by the Institute for Free Speech, which called the order a “wake-up for school boards across America.”

More on this free speech issue is at The Philadelphia Inquirer.