The new policy specifies that students may pose with objects that illustrate their accomplishments or interests, including hunting, shooting and other outdoor sporting activities.

If posing with an item normally considered a weapon, such as a rifle, shotgun or knife, the student may not be brandishing the weapon or pointing it at the camera, the policy says.

The display must be “tasteful and appropriate.” For example, the policy says, a student “should not submit a photograph of game shot by the student if the animal is in obvious distress.”

School board member Matthew Haumont, a Nebraska hunter education instructor who has enjoyed the shooting sports all his life, said he wants the photos to be respectful of the shooting sports and not be offensive.

“So we’re going to have to take these as a case-by-case basis,” he said. “But I think that goes with any photo, whether it’s a scantily clad girl or something like that.”

Shooting is a part of the town culture, and there are a number of local kids who shoot competitively, he said.