Bob CollinsA brouhaha has enveloped Utah because a school doctored up yearbook pictures to make them comply with the rules the students probably should have followed in the first place.
It wasn’t so much that some of the low-cut T-shirts and tank tops were obscured on girls’ pictures, it’s that the policy wasn’t applied equally.
Wasatch County Schools issued a statement yesterday, following a report on a local TV station:
Yesterday, we learned that a few Wasatch High School students are upset because their photos had been edited before being placed in the 2014 yearbook.
Last fall when yearbook photos were taken, a large sign (4 feet by 5 feet) was placed where students could see it before having their photo taken. The sign told students that school dress standards would be enforced. Tank tops, low cut tops, inappropriate slogans on shirts, etc. would not be allowed. If a student violated this policy, the sign told them explicitly that the photos may be edited to correct the violation. The sign was plainly visible to all students who were having their photos taken.
When the yearbook comes out in the spring, students are always excited to see their pictures and are concerned with how they look in the yearbook, so it is understandable that students in violation of the dress code could forget that they received warnings about inappropriate dress. However, there is no question that all students were advised that photos may be edited if the student’s dress did not follow the dress code.
However, in the application of these graphic corrections, the high school yearbook staff did make some errors and were not consistent in how they were applied to student photos and the school apologizes for that inconsistency.
Wasatch High School and Wasatch County School District are evaluating the practice of photo editing of pictures as it now stands and will make a determination on further use of the practice.
It’s safe to say there wasn’t a Photoshop elective at the school.
Kimberly Montoya told Fox13 they gave her sleeves, and not in the same color as her shirt.
Two girls wore the same outfit. But only one got the treatment.
The school superintendent suggested the incident provides a good lesson: Follow instructions on how to dress appropriately for certain things.
This is the way we used to do it, whippersnappers. Ties, jackets, and only one button allowed to be unbuttoned on blouses.
