Photo Courtesy of CNN
Last Friday, students at West Broward High School in Pembroke Pines were told that the school district suspended their yearbook’s distribution because two pages focused on the Black Lives Matter movement.
David Fleischer, a teacher at the school, told CNN, “I found out that it was because there were some complaints from teachers and from parents about the content of the BLM page.”
“That it didn’t seem objective, there were no opposing views. They mentioned the fact that we should have had, or could have included, something like Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter.”
Fleischer wrote an email to his co-workers at the high school saying that “not every story has, or should include, an opposing viewpoint.”
In response, the Broward County school district confirmed in a statement that it paused the distribution of the yearbook, which is called “The Edge.”
“Broward County Public Schools supports and encourages students’ freedom of expression. After concern was expressed last week regarding editorial student content included in the West Broward High School yearbook about the Black Lives Matter movement, the school’s administration paused distribution late Friday afternoon while the concerns were carefully reviewed,” the statement said.
The school’s principal, Brad Fatou, resumed distribution on Monday, but with a note inserted in the books.
According to the note, it said, “Please note that as a governmental agency, the School Board of Broward County must maintain a neutral stance on all political views. As such, any political views expressed in the 2021 West Broward yearbook are not sponsored by the District.”