QC schools to give more scrutiny to yearbooks

The Queen Creek High School yearbook will receive more scrutiny from parents and administrators in the future after parents complained about the most recent volume of the student publication.

The Queen Creek Unified School District Governing Board discussed the policy for student publications at a meeting Tuesday afternoon and agreed that the high school principal or another administrator should play a bigger role in reviewing the content of yearbooks.

Queen Creek High's yearbook came under fire in May after parents complained about images and features that included: students holding red plastic cups, pictures of tattoos and piercings and a photo of two female students together on the relationships page.

Board President Craig Seymore said he received about 180 calls and e-mails from parents and community members who worried that the images promoted underage drinking and other behavior that is "not a reflection of the community."

"It was offensive to most people in this community," Seymore said.

The district has a policy in place that requires the superintendent or school administrators to review student publications before they are disseminated. District board members chose not to craft new policy but instead pay closer attention to student content. Parent volunteers will be asked to get involved and donate time to reviewing student publications.

"We've never had any problem in the past with our yearbook," said Principal Angela Chomokos, which is why only the yearbook adviser and students were in charge of content in the past.

Chomokos said she reviews the student newspaper before it is distributed "to make sure it follows guidelines of appropriateness," but added that few other principals in other school districts review yearbooks.

Some have argued that a yearbook is a reflection of student life at the time it is published.

Tenth grade student Philip Huynh said he didn't think the images in the yearbook were a big deal.

"It's just tattoos and two girls," Huynh said.

Junior Amanda Kelley said the spread feature student tattoos and piercings are a representation of "how people are expressing themselves." But Kelley said she was uncomfortable with a picture showing two female students on the relationship pages as a couple.

Board member Monte Nevitt said he doesn't "buy into" the argument that the yearbook is an historic document.

"There is a thin line" between portraying reality and endorsing certain student behaviors, Nevitt said.