Official policies concerning students' rights in Newfoundland and in the United States are examined, and standards of justification for students' rights are discussed. A questionnaire was sent to each school district superintendent in Newfoundland and to 100 selected superintendents in the State of Wisconsin. The response rate from Newfoundland was 66%; from the United States, 56%. The superintendents were asked to indicate policies concerning students' rights to free speech, free press, association membership, personal appearance and behavior, reasonable punishment, privacy, due process, and academic matters. Results showed that, in spite of the many U.S. Supreme Court rulings on student rights, only in the area of due process do over 50% of the Wisconsin school boards have an officially adopted policy. In Newfoundland, even fewer school boards have official policies. The study concludes that many current standards of justification for students' rights--i.e., the student as a constitutional person, the student as a human person, the Rawlsian standard--are inadequate. A preferred justification is the utilitarian standard, which is based on a committed concern for the greatest welfare of the greatest number. Appendices contain the research proposal, the questionnaire, and statements on students' rights. (RM)