SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas has called for a school district in the Kansas City area to eliminate a policy prohibiting public complaints about individuals at board meetings.

The Kansas City Star reports that the ACLU sent a letter to the Shawnee Mission School Board Dec. 6 saying a policy approved last month violates constitutional rights to free speech.

The school board requires speakers participating in the open forum section of school board meetings to present information in a “positive” and “constructive way.” The policy says complaints against individual school board members or individual employees are considered inappropriate for the open forum.

ACLU official Doug Bonney says the First Amendment and case law gives individuals the right to express “sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.”