Kansas teens to continue publishing underground paper

By Aarika Mack
The Freedom Forum Online

09.15.00

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Two Kansas teens prohibited from attending classes after distributing their alternative newspaper on campus will not press charges against the school and are, according to one of the boys' mothers, "trying to solve this amicably."

Nevertheless the fracas has not deterred the teens, Lee Dunfield and Brad Quellhorst. The paper, Low Budget — a satire of Lawrence High School's official journal, The Budget — will be published again and could be allowed back on campus, says Patricia Graham, Lee Dunfield's mother. In the meantime, the first edition can be viewed at www.lowbudget.20m.com.

Dunfield and Quellhorst first came under scrutiny on Aug. 31 after handing out about 200 copies of the paper at school. The paper contains satirical stories such as "Veteran's Park Set on Fire to Discourage Smoking," "Pope Apologizes for All 2000 Years of Christian Persecution," and "NYC Police Arrest Man for Being Black."

Contrary to earlier news reports, "the students were never suspended, and all disciplinary action was taken by the parents," said Mike Browning, associate principal of Lawrence High School. Browning said the issue was not the content of the underground paper, but the fact that the teens did not receive permission to distribute their publication at school.

"This rule doesn't just include publications but all materials, such as T-shirts and the sort, distributed on campus," he said. "All material must first be approved by the administration before it can be distributed."

In an earlier Associated Press report, Quellhorst said he believed the school's actions were "in direct violation of the First Amendment."

And according to Mark Goodman, director of the Student Press Law Center, he may be right. Goodman says that the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction includes Kansas, has never ruled on school administrators' right to "prior review."

"If the school is claiming an objection based upon that" prior review, that might indeed violate the First Amendment, Goodman said in an interview with
The Freedom Forum Online.

Meanwhile the community has rallied around the students. Stories and editorials have appeared in the Lawrence Journal-World as well as on a community Web site.

The school board has also taken notice of the debate and, according to Julie Boyle, a public relations coordinator for the school district, the board could address the issue as early as Sept. 25, when the superintendent is expected to submit a summary report.

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Principal suspends 2 teens for distributing underground newspaper
Kansas administrator calls Low Budget 'disruptive'; student says principal's comments are in violation of the First Amendment.  09.05.00