School District 11 Concludes Investigation Into Palmer Yearbook Dispute
New details in the controversy surrounding the Palmer High School Yearbook. Several students say the yearbook advisor told them to cut a lesbian couple from the relationship page. Now District 11’s investigation into what happened is over.
The yearbook advisor at the center of the controversy had no comment on the investigation. District 11 launched their own investigation once they received complaints.
“The District 11 Equal Opportunity Ombudsman completed his investigation and reported the final outcome to both parties. It is now a personnel issue, ” said District 11 spokesperson Devra Ashby.
One of those parties involved in filing a complaint, Perrin Cunningham is a mother of the yearbook student editor. ” The ombudsman told us that it was very likely that inappropriate action had been taken by the teacher,” Cunningham told KRDO Newschannel 13.
District 11 would not go into details about their findings or if there would be punishment for the yearbook advisor.
” It is about justice or the fair thing to do and what the students would like to see is representation of their classmates in a non-descriminatory way. They want the relationship page to be put back in the yearbook,” said Cunningham.The matter will now go to human resources for a decision on what will happen next.
Another issue has come up though. According to one student, he and two others who fought for their cause, can’t participate anymore in the yearbook class.
” Since I am a senior, I have no more work to do because the yearbook advisor cut all the pages that I was working on. Since there is no other work besides those pages for me to do, I am not allowed back into the class,” said former yearbook staff member Rodolfo “Coco” Toribio. ” Those are pages that he can’t work on because the yearbook advisor has taken them away, ” said Cunningham.
District 11 says they do not have any information about seniors not being able to participate in the yearbook class at this time.
