High School Newspaper vs. the Superintendent

I thought this story was right up our alley.
A school newspaper in Fairbault, Minnesota was going to publish a story about a middle school teacher who has been accused of inappropriate communication with one of their students.

The superintendent wanted to review the article before it was published and the school editor refused and would only let an attorney read it. Therefore, the superintendent shut down the newspaper for the time being.

The students think they have a right and the advisor of the newspaper, Kelly Zwaggerman thinks the students are right, stating that the story is public information and a public employee.

In my point of view, and from what I have learned from our class...I believe that the superintendent has every right to both see and shut down the newspaper. The article is about a very touchy issue and it could very well disrupt the learning process. Even if the story is "public information" and about a "public employee," the information from the story (that I reviewed for this) does not claim anything that the teacher actually did or does it say he/she was charged with anything. Therefore, the story could also cause severe speculations, which will cause more trouble than it is worth and also could end up being a libel case.

I think kids need to take a step back and realize that they are not professional writers. Go back to talking about cafeteria food and vandalism at the school.


FARIBAULT, Minn. - Faribault School District Superintendent Bob Stepaniak shut down the high school's student newspaper on Monday, after the student editors refused to allow the him review an article before publication.
The article in question was about the investigation into a middle school teacher who had been subject of a complaint about inappropriate communication with a student. The teacher has not been charged, but has been on paid administrative leave since September.
The newspaper's student editor Christen Hildebrandt offered to present the article to the district's attorneys, instead of to the administration, but Stepaniak refused and said in an e-mail: "We are at loggerheads and therefore I am shutting down the Echo (hopefully temporarily) until this issue is resolved."
Both the students and the superintendent claim they are on solid legal ground.
Stepaniak said the issue is about the fundamental question of whether a district's administration has the right to review articles prior to publication.
He pointed to a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier, which upheld the right of administrators in a suburban St. Louis, Mo., school district to censor school newspaper articles about teen pregnancy and the effects of divorce on children.
"The issue here is clearly whether district administration can look at an article before publication. That's what it boils down to," Stepaniak said. "I'm very hesitant to give up that right or say we do not control the Echo as a student activity, even through there's a natural hesitation to oversee it."
Echo faculty advisor Kelly Zwaggerman points to other legal cases, in which the Supreme Court came out in favor of the students. In 2004, the Supreme Court reviewed the Dean vs. Utica Community Schools case and ruled the high school principal's decision to delete articles from the school publication was "unreasonable" and "unconstitutional."
"Simply put, this is public information about a public employee," Zwaggerman said. "Whether it's a police officer in town or someone else who's a public employee, the community has a right to know."
Hildebrandt said he and his fellow student editors refused to allow prior review of articles; Stepaniak said the presses won't print the Echo again without an agreement that such a thing is permissible.
Hildebrandt said the Echo is taking its case to the school board at its Thursday meeting.
"We're going to state that (Stepaniak) does not have the authority to do what he's doing, that the school board is the actual publisher of the Echo," he said. "The argument as that just because something might be called 'inappropriate' is not enough to stop publication of an article."
Zwaggerman said she believes Stepaniak's decision will have far-reaching negative consequences.
Stepaniak said he hopes the shutdown is temporary.
"Simply put, this is public information about a public employee," Zwaggerman said. "Whether it's a police officer in town or someone else who's a public employee, the community has a right to know."
Hildebrandt said he and his fellow student editors refused to allow prior review of articles; Stepaniak said the presses won't print the Echo again without an agreement that such a thing is permissible.
Hildebrandt said the Echo is taking its case to the school board at its Thursday meeting.
"We're going to state that (Stepaniak) does not have the authority to do what he's doing, that the school board is the actual publisher of the Echo," he said. "The argument as that just because something might be called 'inappropriate' is not enough to stop publication of an article."
Zwaggerman said she believes Stepaniak's decision will have far-reaching negative consequences.
Stepaniak said he hopes the shutdown is temporary.