District 214 students fight for free press

Students and teachers of school newspapers spoke out against an addition to the District 214 handbook Thursday, saying it might censor the district's newspapers.

The Northwest Suburban High School District 214 board unanimously approved a 200-page course handbook after about a half dozen people -- including three student newspaper editors from Wheeling, Elk Grove and Hersey high schools and two journalism teachers -- criticized a particular statement added to the book.

The statement defined student newspapers in the context of a 1988 Supreme Court ruling that said student newspapers could be subject to review by school administrators.

While the ruling had been on the books for years, the district had never enforced it, said Hersey High School journalism teacher Janet Levin.

She questioned the board about why the addition, which she described as "shocking," was necessary.

While students and teachers are worried about censorship, the district has no intention of doing so, district officials said.

The intent of the statement was to clarify that the district's student publications are "limited open forums," meaning only student articles would be printed in the newspapers, said Venetia Miles, a District 214 spokeswoman.

When the handbooks were being compiled in June, there had been some question whether non-student material could be added, so to make it clear that it should not, that passage was added. As it was written by district attorneys, it happened to include the court ruling as part of the definition, she said.

Levin said part of the confusion was that journalism teachers were not notified of the addition, so it was unclear what the district's true intent was.

Journalism teachers and students would have preferred to know that passage was under consideration for implementation into the handbook, she said.

The specter of administrator approval hanging over students' heads might change what stories are pursued, she said.

"Just the fact that they put it in that way without telling us, that's what's so scary," Levin said.