Panel sets new policy
on school publications

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

A school board committee hopes a new policy governing student-sponsored publications will serve as a guide for schools to determine what is appropriate for publication and will help limit lawsuits.

The Department of Education has been sued twice in the past two years over material offensive to Blacks that was published in yearbooks at two Windward Oahu high schools.

The Support Services Committee yesterday approved a policy that recognizes the students' rights to express themselves but still makes them responsible for complying with state and federal discrimination laws and student rights and responsibilities as outlined by the Department of Education.

"We can't close all the gaps, but we want to ensure we protect the schools as much as possible from lawsuits without limiting expression," said committee Chairman Winston Sakurai. "What we're looking for is balance."

As requested by the policy, the DOE is developing regulations that require schools to come up with a publications code that governs all printed, audio and visual materials produced by students.

The code would include a list of all official school-sponsored student publications, procedures and a timeline to review all material before publication and who has final authority to approve the publication.

The code would also include procedures for appeals should any material be prohibited from publication and a process for schools to handle concerns or complaints in a timely and consistent manner when they are raised. The Department of Education has been criticized for its slow and inadequate response to past incidents.

The regulations would also establish a list of materials that are prohibited from school-sponsored student publications such as those that violate school regulations, are obscene or ridicule a student or group of students on the basis of religion, gender, race or disability.