Ephrata school newspaper under fire

Administration to review stories prior to publication; adviser resigns

About 100 people showed up at last night's Ephrata School Board meeting with one major concern: What is happening with the high school newspaper?

But, because of a procedural issue with a union grievance, board members said they were unable to hear those concerns, and the people left with more questions than answers.

The controversy began when the student newspaper, the Eye of the Tiger, published its most recent issue on May 5. Its lead story detailed the problems the high school had had with its network computer server, and its two-page spread featured three stories about teen-aged parents at Ephrata High School.

Lois Gibbens, faculty adviser to the paper, said in an interview after the meeting that she heard rumors that high school administrators were not happy with some contents of the paper. She said she later learned an assistant principal had called the Rock Park Coffee, which distributes the paper, and asked the business to pull the copies from his shelf, which it did.

Gibbens said she met with Ephrata High School Principal Scott Hudson and realized the two have different philosophies on what a high school newspaper should be.

"He doesn't want anything that is controversial," she said. "We do real journalism. We deal with real issues."

Gibbens said Hudson then told her administrators must be allowed to preview copy of the paper prior to publication.

Gibbens submitted her resignation from the paper, which the school board approved last night. She also filed a grievance with union, alleging the administration had violated her academic freedom.

It was that grievance, then, that held back public comment on the matter last night.

Board member Jim Cherf said because the grievance was filed about the district's freedom of expression policy, the board could not speak nor hold a public forum on the matter. The procedure set forth in the collective bargaining agreement between the district and the Washington Education Association disallows it, he said.

"If they (the union) had not handcuffed us with that procedure, we'd be happy to talk about it," Cherf said.

Chip Halvorson, union president for Ephrata teachers, said the union did not want to hold up public discussion about the paper, and he was unsure why the grievance should prevent this discussion.

Board President Bill Correll said if the grievance is resolved in time, the board will discuss the issue at its June 15 meeting.

Principal Hudson was asked during the meeting what he objected to in the May 5 edition of the Eye of the Tiger. He declined to answer.

"I'm afraid if I were to discuss it, I would be discussing a personnel issue," he said.

Gibbens, who did not attend the meeting, said Hudson told her he felt the paper had "glamorized" teen pregnancy in the paper. He also had a problem with the placement of a teacher's editorial about the teaching of evolution and creationism in the classroom, and some lines and quotes included within the network-server story, she said.

Superintendent Jerry Simon said the school district's policy, which allows for prior review by the superintendent, is common among school districts throughout the state.

In previous years, the principal had looked over the paper prior to publication, Simon said. This year — Hudson's first — that prior review had not taken place, he said.

Simon said the district supports the paper and is acting within its rights to review it.

The 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case Hazelwood High School v. Kuhlmeier upheld a principal's right to edit content in a student newspaper as he or she sees fit.

Gibbens said she realizes the administration may be acting within the law, but she feels as though the Eye of the Tiger should avoid becoming a newsletter that only writes what the administration wants to read.

"I cannot be the adviser for a paper that's not a real paper," she said, adding that she worries whether the paper will get another adviser and be allowed to continue.

Ephrata High School has published the Eye of the Tiger for eight years, after Gibbens started the program. It received a first place award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2002, a Colorado Scholastic Press Association silver in 2002 and gold in 2003 and an honorable mention best of show from the Washington Journalism Education Association in 2003.

Additionally, Halvorson announced last night that Gibbens was nominated for the prestigious Golden Apple award, which is handed out to top educators throughout the state.

Staffers for the Eye of the Tiger were at last night's meeting, sporting black armbands with the initials "EOTT." After Correll banged the gavel to close the meeting, student Editor-in-Chief Shawn Cardwell thanked the parents, teachers and students in the audience for attending.

"It's really nice to see encouragement," Cardwell said. "For the last week, from the administration, it hasn't seemed like there's been much."

For Cardwell, this experience has been educational.

"It's really made me proud of my opinion and that of others and made me realize the impact of them," she said.