GOLDFIELD, Nev. — The Esmeralda County School District has
adopted a policy that allows students to speak Spanish while
riding the school bus, revoking a ban that was approved by its
school board in October. The prohibition on speaking Spanish had
affected about a dozen students from a farming and ranching
community in Esmeralda County, who are bused by the district to
a high school in neighboring Nye County. The district
implemented the new policy — which states, “There is no general
rule prohibiting Spanish on any of our buses” — after it
received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU). “The school district understands that students have a
constitutional right to free speech,” said Gary Peck, executive
director of the ACLU of Nevada. “Once the superintendent was
informed that prohibiting students from speaking Spanish
violated their rights, the school district was very willing to
work out a policy that both encourages students to practice
their English skills and allows them to speak their