Neshaminy panel backs revised policy on 'Redskin'

Better. But still not good enough.

That's how Gillian McGoldrick, editor-in-chief of Neshaminy High School's Playwickian, views the revised newspaper policy that the Neshaminy School District's policy committee endorsed Tuesday evening. The committee will recommend it to the full board Thursday.

Committee members discussed the revised policy - which took into account suggestions from student editors - and heard comment from students, parents, and residents.

The revised policy does not budge on administrators' right to review the paper prior to publication, but it did concede to students' requests in differentiating between news articles and editorials.

The compromise: Students can choose not to print a word, such as Redskin - the school teams' name, which editors say is disparaging to American Indians - in a news article. But they cannot prohibit such a word in an editorial.

The battle over the students' right to omit Redskin from the newspaper has been brewing all year. It came to a head this month when students removed an editorial containing the word from the paper's final edition of the school year, replacing it with a note explaining the situation, all without administrators' approval.

Administrators scooped up about 40 copies of the unapproved paper, Superintendent Robert Copeland said.

If the policy passes, McGoldrick said, "We're going to keep fighting."

That doesn't surprise school board member Stephen Pirritano.

He said with a laugh: "Students, if they've done anything, they've shown their tenacity."

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