Schools keep basics of newspaper policy

By Rebecca Mayer

The Lake Oswego Review, Jun 11, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

A heated community discussion on the free speech rights of a student newspaper has ended in favor of students who don’t want their free speech rights curtailed.

Student journalists from Lakeridge High School said they were in favor of a retooled policy by the Lake Oswego School Board, that essentially leaves their rights unchanged.

Back in February, an opinion article in the Lakeridge Newspacer by senior Tyler Smith included interviews with student psychedelic drug users and angered Waluga Junior High School parents on a committee for drug and alcohol awareness who argued that the article was in violation of the law.

The parents wanted the district, which was in the midst of updating its policies, to enact a regulation naming Principal Mike Lehman as the publisher and journalism adviser Erin Simonsen as editor-in-chief. The four Waluga committee members say that regulation will help students abide by the Oregon law as it pertains to student journalists.

The current law, enacted by the 2007 Legislature, bans student expression that “incites students as to create a clear and present danger of: The commission of unlawful acts on or off school premises; the violation of school policies; or the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.”

The new policy simply added language to explain the terms “incite,” and “clear and present danger.” It otherwise did not add further regulation to school-sponsored media.

Originally, the Waluga committee had asked for four other regulations, as well. They included: specificity about what students can write about by law (i.e. the benefits of illegal drug use), ensuring proper identification of the writer, online access to student newspapers articles for community members, and including a liability statement stating that an opinion piece is strictly that of the student writer. Committee member Bob Barman also mentioned recommending that the newspaper publish two sides of a controversial issue.

In reaching its decision, the district consulted two law firms, and the Lakeridge Newspacer contacted the Student Press Law Center to aid students in arguing for a less-restrictive policy.

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