Wilkes County Schools and a Quaker peace activist have reached a court-mediated agreement in a four-year-long dispute about her access to high-school students so she can present information about alternatives to military service.
The ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit in January on behalf of Boomer resident Sally Ferrell and N.C. Peace Action. Ferrell said then that military recruiters are allowed in county high schools to present information to attract students and that she wanted to recruit for such groups as AmeriCorps, while also presenting factual information that could lead students to decide that the military might not be the right choice for them.
Ferrell had been allowed in the schools, but was not allowed on campuses in 2007 and 2008 after school officials said she denigrated the military during her visits.
Because of the dispute, the school board had amended the system's policy to prohibit a recruiter from discouraging a student from entering a specific job or career by denigrating its nature or purpose, but allowed the presentation of accurate information which some might interpret as criticism.
Ferrell had said she did follow the policy in her visits, but was denied access anyway and that led to her lawsuit.
The parties met behind closed doors for more than eight hours Tuesday, in separate rooms at the Wilkes County school offices, as a mediator shuttled back and forth.
Wilkes school officials proposed the agreement that was accepted.
The new policy will allow on-campus recruiters for two weeks each semester at each high school, and students must sign up for appointments.
Previously, recruiters have set up tables in the cafeterias and talked to any students who approached.
The agreement also says that N.C. Peace Action and its members will have the same opportunity as military and other recruiters, "and all recruiters will be given the opportunity to present orally or in writing information regarding non-military career options and truthful, job-related information about military careers, which some may perceive as negative or discouraging."
The agreement says that the lawsuit will be placed on an inactive calendar until the end of 2010, when it will be dismissed if the terms of the settlement are met.
"We have an agreement, and I think if all parties hold true to what they've pledged to do everybody's in good shape," Superintendent Steve Laws said in an interview yesterday.
In a written statement, Wilkes County Schools officials dispute accusations that they did not grant equal status to Ferrell and N.C. Peace Action. The statement said that the school board will not allow the recruiting opportunities to be used "as a forum to present political views to attack any other educational or occupational program, including specifically the opportunities provided by the United States Armed Forces."
Ferrell said yesterday that all she has been asking is to have the same access the military has. "I think it should be a good agreement if everybody does what they said they'll do," she said.
In its written statement, the American Civil Liberties Union-NCLF said that the parties had successfully resolved a battle regarding Ferrell's constitutional right to free speech.
■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.
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