Dozens of girls’ photos had been altered in the yearbook for a Florida high school.
The district is offering refunds, but parents and students said that’s not enough.
Riley O’Keefe is a freshman at Bartram Trail High School. She said she was taken by surprise when she got ahold of the yearbook and noticed her photo was different.
“There’s a black box over my chest and the cardigan on the side is like moved over and it looks really awkward and I was very confused,” O’Keefe said.
Her photo was altered by the school’s yearbook committee, and hers wasn’t the only one edited.
Elizabeth McCurdy is a sophomore.
“I didn’t think I would’ve been censored. I thought it was only one or two girls,” McCurdy said. “So I went to go look at my picture and I was appalled to see that I was censored.”
Zoey Iannone is a freshman.
“I went through the whole day wearing that shirt and nobody had said anything to me,” she said.
Dozens of female student photos were censored. Some more subtle than others. One student’s photo was clearly edited to look like she’s wearing a sweater in order to obscure her shoulders.
The school’s yearbook webpage said that “all images in ads and all individual student pictures must be consistent with St. Johns County School District Code of Conduct or may be digitally adjusted.”
O’Keefe said she thought her outfit was not in violation of the policy and even had the outfit cleared by the office. In addition to refunds, the school is having a discussion with families and staff on how to make the process better next year.