8/13/2018

UPDATE: Eagle Nation Online will not be subject to prior review in the upcoming school year. Prosper High School Principal John Burdett told the new journalism adviser, Lisa Roskens, that he was changing the highly restrictive policy he put in place last year and her students would no longer have to submit their stories for his approval before publishing. The students are also planning new editorials after all student opinion pieces were banned by Principal Burdett in the spring.

“It’s honestly kind of a miracle,” said Editor-in-Chief Neha Madhira. She said that after months of silence from the administration, the staff was ready to keep fighting, but did not expect the policy change.

“I think [the administration] decided to change it because of all the press that we got,” said Assistant Editor Haley Stack. “… I mean, once it reached up to the New York Times, I think they realized that they really need to change something before they started getting a really bad name for themselves.”

The Student Press Law Center sent a letter of concern to the Prosper superintendent of schools in May which was co-signed by 17 other national press freedom organizations. The case at Prosper also received widespread news coverage from both local and national news outlets.

Madhira and Stack both said despite their excitement over the news, they intend to test the administration on this policy to make sure they stick to it.

Madhira says she will continue to advocate for a New Voices law in Texas, which would give specific legal protections to student journalists and protect advisers from retaliation. “I don’t think this should lessen the importance of why we need this law anyway,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to trade our adviser for the right to publish.”

Student Press Law Center Senior Legal Counsel Mike Hiestand agreed the positive outcome does not change the need for legal protection in the state. “I think this case just kind of demonstrates the general unfairness that exists in Texas where the standard can be changed virtually overnight on the whim of a school official,” said Hiestand.

Principal Burdett did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

5/23/2018

TEXAS — After censoring the Eagle Nation Online three times this academic year over concerns that stories made the school look bad, the principal of Prosper (Texas) High School, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, will not renew the contract of a nationally acclaimed newspaper and yearbook adviser.

Lori Oglesbee-Petter, a journalism teacher with 34 years of experience in three states, has been at Prosper since May 2016. Last year alone, her journalism students racked up more than 175 state and national journalism awards.

In October 2017, copy editor Isabella Abraham published an article about a senior class movie night that was cancelled due to a “miscommunication” between past administrators and John Burdett, who is completing his first year as principal.

The article was online for one day when Burdett told Oglesbee-Petter to take it down. He said that the information in the article was not uplifting or accurate. The Eagle stands by the accuracy of the story.

“Ms. O and her students have distinguished themselves across the state and country for their exemplary work,” according to an online bio on the school website.

She declined to comment for this story, saying her teaching contract bars her from speaking with reporters.

Burdett also declined to comment.

“Under her guidance, the young journalists she has worked with have regularly taken home top honors. And how does this principal reward such achievements? He fires her and tells the students not to cover anything but happy news.”

In February 2018, staff writer Haley Stack, in an editorial, admonished Prosper’s choice to remove “A Separate Peace” from the 10th grade curriculum. No reason was given for the decision, but Stack pointed to the novel’s homoerotic undertones as a possible cause. The editorial was online for over a week until Burdett asked for it to be taken down, citing grammatical errors and a lack of positivity. According to the Eagle, there were two grammatical errors: a missing apostrophe and an extra period.

Burdett then told Eagle staff that any articles or editorials that went against “community norms” were to be sent to him for approval. The paper started submitting all articles by Burdett, since they felt the policy was unclear.

On March 23, Eagle staff was informed Oglesbee-Petter would not return to Prosper for another school year. According to associate editor Neha Madhira, Burdett did not provide a reason to Oglesbee-Petter. The school is not required to explain the decision because she was under contract.

“We were extremely concerned,” said Madhira. “We already knew [Burdett] wasn’t on our side.”

Stack believes Oglesbee-Petter’s contract not being renewed is retaliatory.

“I think that [Burdett] doesn’t like our adviser,” Stack said. “And I think he is taking it out on our staff. Anytime that he sees an opportunity to shut us down in any sort of way, he will take it.”

SPLC’s Senior Legal Counsel Mike Hiestand responded to the decision with “shock.”

“Prosper High School is blessed with a veteran teacher who was named the best high school journalism adviser in the entire country,” Hiestand said in a May 18 press release. “Under her guidance, the young journalists she has worked with have regularly taken home top honors. And how does this principal reward such achievements? He fires her and tells the students not to cover anything but happy news.”

On April 9, Eagle staff sent a letter to Burdett, Prosper School District Superintendent Drew Watkins, and school board members, citing the importance of a student-led newspaper, criticizing the October and February instances of censorship, and asking for Oglesbee-Petter to remain at Prosper. Staff members also said they were worried about the future of the Eagle.

“We are not just public relations for the school. Not all news will be positive.”

According to Madhira, her staff never received a reply from any administrators. Burdett did bring up the letter with Madhira in an April 20 interview regarding an approved news article about the nationwide school walk-outs. She remembers Burdett angrily saying the April 9 letter was “false” and cutting her off multiple times during the conversation.

On May 1, Madhira tried to publish an editorial about a team bonding activity organized by Burdett in response to instances of school shootings across the country. In the editorial, Madhira described the activity as disorganized and vague, and then offered solutions to improve it. Burdett blocked the editorial from being published online, saying it was incorrect and didn’t capture the voices of all Prosper students.

Burdett then told Madhira the Eagle could not publish editorials anymore. This policy still remains in place.

“You have a principal that is upset that the teacher is not teaching how to produce fake news,” Hiestand said. “He is telling the kids, ‘You can publish the news as long as it’s happy news.’ That is the definition of fake news.”

Prosper’s prior review policy allows the school’s principal ultimate editorial authority, including the right to block stories from being published. The policy states: “All publications edited, printed, or distributed in the name of or within the District schools shall be under the control of the school administration and the Board. All publications approved and issued by individual schools shall be part of the instructional program, under the supervision of a faculty sponsor, and shall be carefully edited to reflect the ideals and expectations of the citizens of the District for their schools.”

On May 18, Madhira drafted a press release with the help of Hiestand and JEA Scholastic Press Rights Commission Chair Lori Keekley. It explains in detail Burdett’s practice of censorship and Oglesbee-Petter’s contract termination, as well as the importance of editorials.

“We are not just public relations for the school,” Madhira said in the press release. “Not all news will be positive.”

Madhira’s goal is to spread awareness of her paper’s situation. She has reached out to the Dallas Morning News, NBC5, Prosper Magazine, and the Community Impact Newspaper. So far, no reporters have chosen to pick up the story.

Editor’s note: Since this story’s publication, WFAA ABC8, The Dallas Morning News, KXAS NBC-DFW5 and the Dallas Observer have reported on the topic. The Prosper Press has offered to run censored articles. The New York Times published a story on July 1.

SPLC staff writer Gabriel Greschle is on Twitter @ggreschler.

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