Albemarle County School Board: Proposed Student Activities Policy

Following a controversy over the views of a guest speaker invited by the Turning Point USA chapter at Western Albemarle High School in Virginia, the Albemarle County School Board initiated a review of the policy governing student activities. On March 5, 2026, district staff proposed a new policy that would ban student groups that “promote or endorse violence, harassment, or hatred toward an identifiable person or group” based on certain characteristics, and would likewise ban groups affiliated with any organization that does so. The policy would also give school administrators unfettered discretion to approve or deny clubs' requests to host guest speakers. 

On March 12, FIRE wrote the school board, urging it to reject the proposed limits on student organizations.