A Fairfax County School Board member’s desire to affirm the defined rights of student journalists in the wake of the Hayfield Secondary School athlete-transfer uproar died on a 9-3 vote at the Dec. 5 board meeting.
At-large board member Ryan McElveen introduced the measure as part of a broader discussion of the Hayfield athletics matter. He said it was in reaction to allegations, which have not been independently confirmed, of student journalists at Hayfield having their work on the issue censored.
“That’s very concerning to me,” said McElveen, whose proposal called on the Board to “direct the [School Board] Governance Committee to ensure that all FCPS policies and regulations … uphold the rights of student-journalists to make decisions regarding content without prior review or approval.”
“It’s worth the School Board’s time to ensure issues are not happening. We owe it to our students,” he said.
McElveen’s proposal to have the board’s governance committee review FCPS policies to ensure they “uphold the rights of student journalists to make decisions regarding content without prior review or approval” won support from colleagues Mateo Dunne (Mount Vernon) and Ricardy Anderson (Mason).
Back in August, the same trio called for an independent investigation of athletic transfers to Hayfield under then-new head coach Darryl Overton.
“The right of a free press is the foundation of a free society,” Dunne said in support of McElveen’s measure. “What we teach in our schools is what we become in a society.”
The last reference to football on the website of Hayfield’s Harvester News, the school’s student newspaper, appears to have come in April when Overton was hired. However, like McElveen, Dunne didn’t point to any specific instances of students being muzzled.
“I don’t have any facts of censorship, but I have heard stories,” he said.
After McElveen, Dunne and Anderson spoke in support of the proposal, their colleagues lined up to criticize it from a number of angles.
Board members said springing the resolution for discussion at the meeting, without going through typical channels that can take weeks or months, was inappropriate.
“It has to be refined,” Franconia District School Board Representative Marcia St. John-Cunning said, while Hunter Mill District Representative Melanie Meren said the proper venue for discussion would be a March 11 workshop on the school system’s Students Rights & Responsibilities handbook.
“That’s a much more appropriate place,” Meren said.
Several board members said the phrase “without prior review or approval” in McElveen’s motion gave them pause.
Braddock District Representative Rachna Sizemore Heiser expressed support for journalists and free speech, but said McElveen’s measure was “a dangerous motion the way it was written.”
Anderson, however, said she believed McElveen’s measure was hardly revolutionary.
“This is just a look to ensure that our policies are where we want them to be,” she said. “This is just a review.”
The back-and-forth, occurring around 11:30 p.m., left Sully District Representative Seema Dixit perplexed.
“I have no idea what is going on,” said Dixit, who was participating remotely. “I would support it if I knew what was going on, what you are looking for, what it is trying to achieve.”
At-large member Ilryong Moon also admitted to being flummoxed, but his efforts to get clarification from staff were unsuccessful.
He asked Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid to define exactly what the rights and responsibilities of student journalists are at FCPS. Reid passed the request to a top staffer, who said she didn’t have it at her fingertips but would provide more information later.
“But we are voting tonight,” Moon retorted.
Dixit was among those taking McElveen to task for not providing context for the proposal to his colleagues in advance. Meren was also critical of the timing.
“This is not a model of behavior of how to do business,” she said.
Meren sought ways to curtail the meeting as the midnight hour approached, but Board Chair Karl Frisch (Providence) said they would plow on to complete scheduled business.
“I knew coming into this it was going to be a long night,” he said. “We have a posted agenda and, short of items being removed, we’re going to get through it.”
Knowing the votes weren’t there and desiring to move things along, Dunne then used a procedural move to get to a vote. The final tally was in line with how the comments broke down: 9-3 against McElveen’s proposal.
The FCPS Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook, which lays out policies and expectations for student behavior, includes a regulation that addresses students’ right to freedom of expression, including when it comes to official publications:
“Students are encouraged to establish school newspapers, yearbooks, literary magazines and similar publications. The student editorial staff and faculty advisor, in consultation with the principal, shall establish an editorial policy that promotes responsible journalism and does not violate the prohibitions on written expression contained in this regulation. The principal shall ensure that the contents of school-sponsored publications do not violate the provisions of this regulation. In accordance with the procedures established in this regulation, the principal’s decisions shall be subject to appeal.”
The regulation prohibits student expression that is obscene, slanderous, libelous, advocates criminal acts or would, in the view of their school’s principal, lead to a “substantial disruption” of school activities or endanger the health and safety of students.
