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District

School Publications Policies

Pantera (yearbook)

Editorial Policy
By virtue of the fact that the yearbook is a publication conceived, planned, and produced by students, as well as the product of an academic elective program, certain guidelines must be put into practice ethically and legally. Journalistic in nature, the yearbook attempts to inform and entertain its audience in a broad, fair, and accurate manner on all subjects that affect readers in the areas of student life, academics, clubs, and sports. The yearbook staff will endeavor to feature each student at Clark at least twice in the book, though this is not guaranteed. Students can ensure inclusion in the book by having their class picture taken and by submitting photos when the yearbook staff solicits them.

The entire student body of prospective readers constitutes the target audience for the book, with secondary audiences including school personnel, community members, and scholastic journalism groups. Content focuses on coverage that will meet the needs of the majority of Clark students. While the staff not only allows, but also encourages, constructive criticism of any part of the book, before or after distribution, final authority for content of the volume rests solely in the hands of publications class students and their adviser. No material, opinionated or otherwise, will be printed which is libelous, irresponsible, advocates an illegal activity, or which the Editorial Board and/or adviser deem in poor journalistic taste or style.

Editorial Leadership
The Editorial Board is the decision-making body. Members include the managing editors, business manager(s), photo editor(s), and section editors / team leaders. The board meets at least weekly, on a date determined at the beginning of the semester. The adviser or managing editors may also call unscheduled meetings if special problems or issues arise. Attendance to all board meetings is mandatory, unless a valid excuse is provided. Habitual unexcused absences are grounds for dismissal. Meetings of the board are open to all staff and administration.

Board members are subject to review by the Editorial Board if they fail to fulfill their duties. The board may dismiss a member with a majority vote, but the managing editors in consultation with the adviser may also dismiss an editor. The board is responsible for recommending a replacement for a vacated position, and the adviser must approve the replacement. All board members vote on policy-making decisions when the need arises. A majority vote determines the decision. The adviser will not vote, but may disagree and make suggestions or comments.

Controversial Issues
Concerning the publication of controversial issues, the Editorial Board will discuss and vote on the approach to be taken. A majority vote will be the deciding factor. The adviser may veto the decision only if the proposed publication/material does not follow standard journalistic practices or contradicts state or local school board policies.

Portrait and Photo Policy
All students and school personnel must have their portraits made with the official school portrait photographer in order to be included in the current volume of the yearbook. All senior portraits must be taken by an official photography studio chosen by the school and publications class. There is a sitting fee for those seniors taking senior portraits. All senior portraits should be head and shoulder shots with no hands showing.

All students and faculty/staff will be afforded at least two opportunities to have their portraits taken or retaken if the need presents itself. As long as students and staff make their scheduled appointment(s), the yearbook staff will include the students’ and staff photos in the yearbook. The yearbook staff is not responsible for making sure students and staff show up for individual or group photo appointments. The staff may on occasion solicit photos from students and/or staff. While the staff will endeavor to return all submitted photos, the yearbook staff is not responsible for any photos lost in the production of the yearbook. Therefore, students and staff should not submit any photo they consider irreplaceable. All photos taken by yearbook staff are property of the yearbook and Publications class. Because all photos the staff takes are digital, we do not make print copies of any photo. As a general policy, the yearbook staff also does not loan or give to the student body or staff photo negatives or copies of digital photos that may be considered for publication.

Obituary Policy
Should a student or school staff member die during the current coverage period, the staff will treat the death in a tasteful, respectful manner. The portrait of that person will appear as it would under normal circumstances, but the name of the person and the date of birth and death will be set off in a 10 percent black screen (or some other like treatment). This treatment will provide adequate memory of the individual for those closely associated, while not overemphasizing the death for other readers.

Book Sales Policy
Yearbooks are sold throughout the year, beginning in September. Prices generally begin below the yearbook’s actual cost and rise up to $40 beyond the base price once yearbooks arrive in May. Only those who pre-order yearbooks are guaranteed a copy. Those who purchase yearbooks must have a receipt or valid ID to pick up the yearbook during distribution. Yearbook sales are final. No refunds except in the case of a printing error involving the student who purchased the book. Exchanges can be made for books with minor flaws if no writing has been done in the book. If a book has been written in, then no exchange can be made unless adviser deems the book’s flaw to be major (e.g., pages missing, pages upside-down).

Advertising Policy
All advertising accepted by the staff must meet the same guidelines as editorial content. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute an endorsement by the school, the staff as a whole, or individual staff members. Proofs of personal or business ads may be shown to the purchaser upon request. The yearbook staff reserves the right to alter content in business or personal ads if the content is deemed inappropriate for a high school audience. If the staff makes any substantive changes to an advertisement, the staff must inform the ad purchaser of the change and offer a full refund for the ad if the ad purchaser wishes to withdraw the ad. Advertising program and rates are set each year by the yearbook staff and are specifically detailed in the contract for businesses and individuals. A letter is mailed home to parents of seniors during the first semester outlining requirements and prices for senior personal ads. Ad prices are also available on the school website.

Yearbook Printer
Friesens Yearbooks
One Memory Lane
Altona, MB R0G 0B0
1.888.324.9725 (plant phone) 1.877.405.1190 (fax)

Clark Chronicle (news website)

General Policy and Copyrights
The Clark Chronicle is the on-line newspaper produced by the Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School Publications class. The Chronicle was published in paper form from 1999-2014, when it ceased its print publication in print form.

The main purpose of the Chronicle is to entertain and inform the student body on topics of relevance at school, in the community, and in the world. All writing in the Chronicle is copyrighted by the Chronicle unless otherwise noted (such as student-submitted writing). Writing is protected by U.S. Copyright laws, and while the © symbol may not appear on all stories, assume that all rights are reserved by the Chronicle and that no part of the documents contained herein may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Clark Chronicle. While the adviser reads all copy to help students meet journalistic standards, the Editorial Board makes decisions about content in order to create an open public forum of ideas.

Distribution
The Chronicle print paper was published approximately once each month and was distributed free of charge to all students and staff at Clark. Back issues can be sent upon request.

Editorial Leadership
The Editorial Board is the decision-making body. Members include the editor(s)-in-chief, copy editor, business manager(s), photography/graphics editor(s) and section editors. The board meets at least weekly during class time, at a date determined at the beginning of the semester. The adviser or editor-in-chief may also call unscheduled meetings if special problems or issues arise. Attendance at all board meetings is mandatory, unless a valid excuse is provided. Board members are subject to review by the Editorial Board if they fail to fulfill their duties. The board may dismiss a member with a majority vote, but the editor-in-chief in consultation with the adviser may also dismiss an editor. If a situation arises when the general opinion of the board differs from that of the editor-in-chief or adviser, the adviser may choose to veto the board’s decision. Policy-making and other aspects of the Chronicle are decided by a majority vote of the board. The adviser may disagree and make suggestions/comments or call into question the subject matter in order to protect against libel and obscenity concerns. Controversial subjects that arise are to be discussed among the board to determine an appropriate course of action.

Editorial Policy
A staff editorial appeared in each issue of the print Chronicle. While the editor-in-chief wrote the staff editorial, the editorial represented the majority opinion of the editorial board and was not to be biased towards the opinion of the editor-in-chief. For this reason, the editorials are not bylined and the writing was  shared with the entire board prior to publication. All other articles in the opinion section receive bylines and reflect the opinion of the writer.

Letters and On-Line Commenting Policy
Users may comment on stories on-line. The newspaper adviser reserves the right to edit any comment for purposes of clarity or appropriateness (no profanity or language that could be construed as libelous or obscene or constituting advertising a product or service). Approval of comments for posting on the site lies with the adviser’s discretion.

User-Submitted Writing Guidelines
While students submitting writing to the Clark Chronicle website retain the copyright to their writing, by submitting work to this site, writers grant permission to the Chronicle to display the writing in any form, with edits, as the Chronicle wishes. Should the writers wish for their writing to be removed from the site, they must contact the site administrator with explicit directions to do so.

All writing should be proof-read carefully and is subject to further editing by the Chronicle staff and/or adviser. Student ID number should be included with writing, and students will be contacted to confirm that the writing is theirs and that they wish to publish their work. The Chronicle reserves the right to refuse publication of any material submitted by students that the Chronicle deems inappropriate or not written to the standards of the publication. No anonymous submissions will be published.

Correction Policy
If a spelling or factual error occurs in the Chronicle, a correction will be printed in the following edition, provided the error is brought to the staff’s attention.

Privacy Policy
In keeping in line with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the Chronicle (both the print edition and on-line edition) seeks to protect students’ privacy. While the newspaper will use students’ first and last names and will publish photos, the Chronicle will never publish phone numbers or addresses either on-line or in print. All stories that have appeared in the print issue may appear in the on-line version of the newspaper and will include the same story text content as the stories that appear in the print newspaper. When students and/or their families believe their privacy has been infringed upon when the article is first published, they should contact the adviser. The Chronicle does not honor takedown requests by those who are in the article nor does it change the content of the article once it is published (unless there is a factual error, an incident of potential libel, or unless the person named in the article is referenced for having committed an act for which they were suspended from school).

Advertising Policy
Please contact the advisor re: advertising on this website. Under no circumstances will the staff accept obscene, libelous, or inappropriate advertisements. The following topics are inappropriate: drugs, alcohol, adult-related material, and anything else illegal for minors. Advertising rates are set each year. For on-line ad prices, please contact the adviser.

Obituary Policy
If a faculty member or student should pass away, the staff will publish a story in the news section about the individual and/or circumstances concerning the individual. If the staff wishes to publish articles that extend beyond the news story, it must consult with the family of the deceased individual(s). The family must concur with any extra information or photographs about the individual that are not included in the news story.

The Magnet (magazine)

General Policy
The Magnet is the newsmagazine produced by the Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School Publications class. While the adviser reads all copy to help students meet journalistic standards, the Editorial Board makes decisions about content in order to create an open public forum of ideas. The entire student body and staff receive the magazine free of charge. The main purpose of The Magnet is to entertain and inform the student body on topics of relevance at school, in the community, and in the world.

Distribution
The Magnet is published approximately once each quarter and is distributed free of charge to all students and staff at Clark. Mail subscriptions are also available for $15 per year (based upon a four-issue-per-school-year schedule). All mail subscriptions are sent to the subscriber’s address within two days of publication.

Editorial Leadership
The Editorial Board is the decision-making body. Members include the editor(s)-in-chief, copy editor, business manager(s), photography/graphics editor(s) and section editors. The board meets at least weekly during class time, at a date determined at the beginning of the semester. The adviser or editor-in-chief may also call unscheduled meetings if special problems or issues arise. Attendance at all board meetings is mandatory, unless a valid excuse is provided. Board members are subject to review by the Editorial Board if they fail to fulfill their duties. The board may dismiss a member with a majority vote, but the editor-in-chief in consultation with the adviser may also dismiss an editor. If a situation arises when the general opinion of the board differs from that of the editor-in-chief or adviser, the adviser may choose to veto the board’s decision. Policy-making and other aspects of the magazine are decided by a majority vote of the board. The adviser may disagree and make suggestions/comments or call into question the subject matter in order to protect against libel and obscenity concerns. Controversial subjects that arise are to be discussed among the board to determine an appropriate course of action.

Editorial Policy
The staff may elect to write a staff editorial in each issue of the magazine. While the editor-in-chief will generally write the staff editorial, the editorial must represent the majority opinion of the editorial board and will not be biased towards the opinion of the editor-in-chief. For this reason, the editorial is not bylined and the writing must be shared with the entire board prior to publication. All other articles in the opinion section receive bylines and reflect the opinion of the writer.

Letters Policy
The magazine desires to present a wide variety of opinions in its letters section. The Magnet accepts letters from students, faculty members, and members of the community. Due to space limitations, not all letters can be published. All letters submitted to the magazine are subject to editing for purposes of space, grammar, and clarity. When publishable letters are submitted presenting varying points of view, the magazine editors will publish letters from as many viewpoints as possible. Although The Magnet staff writes the bulk of the articles in the magazine, students not enrolled in the class may submit pieces of writing for consideration. Prior to the publication of such articles, the board must review them thoroughly, and has the right to edit the articles for length or clarity. The Magnet retains the right to publish the students’ writing in any means, printed or electronic, with no compensation given to the writer.

Correction Policy
If a spelling or factual error occurs in The Magnet, a correction will be printed in the following edition, provided the error is brought to the staff’s attention.

Advertising Policy
In order to publish The Magnet, the staff sells advertising at a variety of prices, including year-term contracts. Due to concerns over excessive paper inside the magazine itself, The Magnet  does not allow inserts as a form of advertising. Under no circumstances will the staff accept obscene, libelous, or inappropriate advertisements. The following topics are inappropriate: drugs, alcohol, adult-related material, and anything else illegal for minors. Advertising rates are set each year.

Obituary Policy
If a faculty member or student should pass away, the staff will publish a story in the news section about the individual and/or circumstances concerning the individual. If the staff wishes to publish articles that extend beyond the news story, it must consult with the family of the deceased individual(s). The family must concur with any extra information or photographs about the individual that are not included in the news story.

Deadlines
Section editors will complete and submit to the adviser and to the editor-in-chief a “section deadline chart” at a time to be determined by the adviser. This chart lists the names of stories assigned, the writer, the date the story is assigned, and the due date to the editor and to the adviser. The section editors are responsible for setting reasonable deadlines and are responsible for communicating all deadlines to the writers. They must also monitor the writers’ progress and notify the magazine editors and the adviser if problems arise. Layouts must be completed at least two weeks prior to page submission date and must be shown to the editor-in-chief (if applicable) and to the adviser.

Privacy and Takedown Requests
In keeping in line with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the magazine staff seeks to protect students’ privacy. While the magazine will use students’ first and last names and will publish photos, the magazine will never publish phone numbers or addresses either on-line or in the print magazine. When students and/or their families believe their privacy has been infringed upon, they should contact the adviser. As a rule, stories that are on-line will not be removed or re-edited unless the person involved can show that the story contains information that is libelous or obscene.