SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Hundreds of high school students in Seminole County may still have to wait a little longer to get their yearbooks, but a compromise was reached on Tuesday evening. 

The page in question showed pictures of students taking part in a walk-out protest at Lyman High School back in March, a protest over the parental rights in education law passed earlier this year.

The school will now place stickers on the page noting that the event in question was not a school-sponsored event.

Madi Koesler worked on Lyman High School’s yearbook as a student and graduated from Lyman last year.  She now volunteers for the publication and works as a professional photographer.  

She took pictures of the student protest that appear in a section of the yearbook that went to press, but hasn’t been distributed. 

Michael Hunter, Lyman High School’s Principal, sent a message home to families explaining the reason for the delay of yearbook distribution, but did not specify what content specifically didn’t meet school board policies.

“They went out there and protested and used their First Amendment right and it’s being taken away by covering them up with stickers, and I think we should stop the stickers because it’s ridiculous,” said Koesler.

School administrators say the pictures and captions depict an event that’s not school-sponsored, where students cut school to protest.  A school district spokesperson highlighted the school district’s School Sponsored Publications rules which include “speech that is reasonably likely to cause substantial disruption.”  School administrators had planned to cover up the part of the page in question with stickers, which will leave space where students can sign autographs.

A district spokesperson says the action has nothing to do with the recently-passed Parental Rights In Education law, or so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, but is strictly to adhere to school board policies.

However, at the Seminole County School Board meeting on Tuesday, the board voted on a motion to instead allow administration to create a sticker that can be applied to the page in question so that it would be in compliance with school board policy. This would allow the photos and text to be displayed as originally created, but may delay the distribution of the yearbooks.

Koesler says there are plenty of examples of depictions of protests in past yearbooks that weren’t covered up, like for example a protest for Black Lives Matter.

“The yearbook is not just about school-sponsored events, it’s about everything that impacts students’ lives while they’re in high school – that’s including protests,” said Koesler.

Koesler says there was also a demonstration supporting South Florida students fighting for stricter gun-control laws after the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, depicted in a previous yearbook.  She believes the only difference between depictions of those other demonstrations and what’s now being coveed up is reaction to the new state law.

“There are other instances of non-sponsored school events, but the only one they want to cover is the one that goes against our governor and goes against this legislation,” said Koesler.

“It just seems odd to me that’s the only issue they have with that book.”