Exactly two years after former Gov. David Ige signed a law supporting student journalists and their press freedoms, the state Board of Education has clarified school censorship policy, which was celebrated by McKinley High School student journalists and their adviser.

The board’s decision now requires school officials to articulate their reasons for censoring student work, aligning its policy with Ige’s student journalism law that’s intended to protect student journalists from legal actions, such as being sued for libel or over content that could be regarded as obscene.

On May 23, 2022, Ige signed the Hawaii Student Journalism Protection Act — enabling student journalists at public schools and the University of Hawaii to exercise freedom of speech in school-sponsored media, and to protect their advisers from retaliation for defending student press freedom.

The BOE in January drafted its updated school-­sponsored media policy that includes five circumstances for which censorship would be allowed — including when content is libelous, constitutes an unwarranted invasion of privacy, is obscene, violates federal or state law, or incites a clear and present danger of unlawful acts or substantial disruption of school operations. An appeals process was also drafted for student journalists in the event of censorship.

On Thursday, the BOE formally adopted the policy.

The policy was created in 1995 and last amended in 2016, and the local student journalism community was concerned it hadn’t been updated prior to Thursday’s BOE decision.

Now that BOE policy aligns with state law, Cynthia Reves — the adviser for McKinley’s student newspaper, The Pinion — said it eliminates confusion for both student journalists and advisers regarding rules for student media.

“I’m excited because it’s been two years, to this day,” Reves said Thursday. “We are getting something that we wanted. It feels like the last legal step is done.”

The policy change is the result of over six years of advocacy by Reves, McKinley students and local journalism community members.

“Myself and a handful of other journalism students and educators asked to discuss a revision of the student media policy back in 2018,” Reves said.

Reves and five of her journalism students from The Pinion attended Thursday’s BOE meeting to testify and offer additional suggestions.

Shane Kaneshiro, an 18-year-old graduating senior at McKinley, has served as the editor in chief of The Pinion for two years. He has been actively involved in advocating for the law and policy change alongside Reves since his freshman year, even before the bill was introduced to the Legislature.

“This policy is a step forward from the old policy,” Kaneshiro said. “The new policy aligns to the law, which gives the students the freedom to be able to write, to share the stories and issues that arise in school to bring awareness to others. This policy provides us the security to share our stories.”

“I support it as is — it does what it’s supposed to do,” Reves told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “It aligns with the law and it provides an appeals process that I support.”

During the meeting, Reves proposed that the BOE include clear definitions for circumstances in which censorship might be permitted, specifying the meaning of words like “libelous” to dispel common misconceptions, but the Board did not make amendments.

Reves also recommended renaming the policy “School-­Sponsored Student Media” to emphasize that students write the publication, not just a general media outlet.

The policy renaming amendment was approved on Thursday.

Even if Policy 101-9 had not been updated, the state law, which takes precedence over BOE policy, would still protect student journalists.

However, Reves said that aligning BOE policy with state law clarifies the correct rules for student journalists and advisers, and provides a platform for them to appeal to the complex area superintendent or the complex area educational officer designee.

If a student journalist wants to appeal a decision not to publish their work, they can submit a written appeal to the complex area superintendent within five business days.

The complex area superintendent or their designee must offer a hearing within five business days of receiving the written appeal. The student can challenge the school’s decision at the hearing, and a written decision will be given within two business days after the hearing.

For the appeals process, students can bring parents, legal guardians and a student media adviser. Additionally, the BOE decided on Thursday to allow students to bring a third party to the appeals process to ensure a diverse representation beyond just adults.

Malia Manuel, a 17-year-old junior at McKinley, will join The Pinion’s editorial team next school year.

While she acknowledged that the BOE made the necessary changes, she hopes that student journalists like herself will have a voice in future discussions on important topics.

“I think that when it comes to major decisions, when it comes to journalism stuff, the BOE could put more work and effort into involving actual journalists and student journalists into those decisions,” Manuel said. “That would be very beneficial to us.”