Seaholm Highlander

Birmingham Public Schools administration said they have no plan to censor The Seaholm Highlander and had invited students to help create the district’s publications policy.

Deputy Superintendent Paul DeAngelis was quick to tell The Highlander staff that their rights would not be infringed upon by any new policy during a lecture he gave on December 7.

“I’m here to tell you that I’m going to make sure that I protect your first amendment rights and the rights that you have to publish a newspaper the same exact way you are publishing it now,” DeAngelis said. “There is no expectation from me or the superintendent or from anybody else that we’re going to change the way you are currently doing things.”

DeAngelis also explained the leadership role that select newspaper students would be taking in the policymaking process.

“I always recognize the students involved in the school newspaper as a student leadership group,” DeAngelis said.

Ben Harwood, adviser for The Highlander welcomed the opportunity to join the administration in updating the policy plan for the paper.

“For the staff and for the future of the paper we have an opportunity to collaborate on a relatively unique process,” Harwood said. “I can’t imagine many other staffs have the same opportunity or the same type of respect afforded to them by their administration.”

The co-editors in chief, Lanie Barron and Josh Cohen, echoed Harwood’s sentiments.

“I am excited about being a part of the policy making because I know it is going to affect future generations of the paper,” Barron said. Cohen was concerned about the approach that the district is taking regarding the new policy, but found the new information to be very positive.

“Initially, there was a lot of speculation surrounding where the district was going to go policy wise and what changes may have been made to the way we run the paper,” Cohen said. “Hearing DeAngelis talk about the district’s stance on the policy change both cleared things up very well and gives me respect for how open the district is with us.”

Adam Goldberg of the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) was also impressed by the effort the administration is taking to include students in the policy-making process.

“I’ve never heard of administration asking for student input [regarding student publication policy changes],” said Goldberg. “That is sort of encouraging.”

Barron, Cohen, Photo Editor Lindsay Boeckl, and Opinion Editor Mari Manoogian are the representatives from the Highlander who are on the committee to update the policy.

Harwood is looking forward to the seeing the long term benefits that a taking collaborative approach on policy building will bring.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for everyone involved,” Harwood said. “Selfishly for me as a teacher, it provides a valuable teachable moment.”

The team of students will be meeting with the Harwood, staff from Groves, and various administrators to discuss the policy on January 8, 2010.

The idea for the change in policy has been initiated by NEOLA, or the Northeastern Ohio Learning Association, a company that services the Midwest, hired by Birmingham Public Schools to design policy and bylaws for the district, as well as design the student handbooks.

In the spring of 2009, after some issues regarding student journalists in Indiana schools, NEOLA looked at revamping the student publications and productions bylaws that have been standard for much of their clientele base since the late 1980s. Birmingham Public Schools has not adopted a new policy regarding student publications since 1987.

“[NEOLA wasn’t] looking to change your existing practice…They were looking to develop options that would allow you to pick one of those four to match your current practice for a publication,” said DeAngelis.

DeAngelis contends that the student publications operate under the limitedpurpose public forum, and the mismatch between practice and policy is something the administration is looking to clear up.

“We need to make sure that practice and policy align,” said DeAngelis.

Another issue that was addressed was the concern surrounding the chance that the administration at Seaholm could have a personnel change and what would if the policy didn’t change.

“If there is a difference between the policy and practice, you need to reconcile the two of them,” said Goldberg. “Worst case scenario is if you end up with a new administrator who wants to enforce the policy that doesn’t fit with your practice.”

BPS has four options for new policy, which range from the non-public forum, which allows for strict scrutiny by the administration, to the public forum which is the current practice the Highlander follows.

Goldberg advocated for the continued practice of the public forum policy.

“If you’ve been operating under a public forum, then it’s in your best interest to continue to do so,” said Goldberg.