EVERETT – With the first issue of the Kodak in legal limbo, student editors on Tuesday passed out a different kind of newspaper to their classmates at Everett High School.
The four-page publication features a photo of co-editors Claire Lueneburg and Sara Eccleston with black tape over their mouths and a single story headlined “Censorship.” Inside, two pages are blank.
It’s a protest piece aimed at the school’s new principal, Catherine Matthews, who is withholding about $825 to print the Kodak’s Oct. 17 issue until editors recognize her authority to review material before it is published. The teens handed out the protest piece in an effort to drum up support.
Eccleston, 17, said she wanted to let the student body know what’s going on because “if I’m going to get anywhere with this, I need them.”
The two seniors presented their case Tuesday night to Everett School District Superintendent Carol Whitehead in a 90-minute meeting that also included lawyers and an assistant superintendent. They said Whitehead told them she would respond in writing later.
Earlier, Whitehead said it was her job as well as that of principals to uphold district policies.
“I think everyone, teenagers and adults, needs to understand there are some rules and laws that may not be the way they would have written them” but still need to be followed, Whitehead said.
The girls spent $200 of their own money to print 1,800 copies of the protest issue. After talking with a lawyer, they altered the name by adding “student body,” emphasizing student control.
They also put in bold an editorial statement identifying the Kodak as a “student forum.” The term is a legal distinction that could give the student newspaper more freedom from school control, including prior review.
Administrators argue that the newspaper is not a student forum, since school materials and funds are used and students earn credit as part of a class.
Matthews has said the students must remove the term before they can start publishing again. She cites a 7-year-old school board policy that allows, but does not require, principals to review student publications before they go to print.
If they don’t find favor with the superintendent, the student editors say they will appeal to the school board to have the policy changed. “Our goal is not to be a disruption, but to be a paper and inform people of what’s going on,” Eccleston said.
School board members at their regular meeting on Tuesday declined to talk about the issue, saying only that they follow policies and seek legal advice before crafting or approving them.
As she read the editors’ plea for support, junior Dannie Bryant, 17, said students sensed something was up when the first Kodak issue of the school year failed to appeared. But many didn’t know what had happened until they were handed the special edition.
Students say the Kodak is widely read. “I see a lot of people walking around with it all the time when they come out,” Bryant said.
“It means a lot because you’re getting other students’ opinions … and reading about the school,” said Lauren Cudaback, 15, a sophomore.
The dozen other students on the newspaper staff continue to report and write stories, including one about steroid use and another about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, the editors said. The next issue is scheduled for Nov. 22.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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