Wall High School Reprinting Trump-Censored Yearbook: Superintendent

WALL, NJ — Students and staff who purchased Wall Township High School yearbooks will be receiving new books in the wake of an investigation sparked by the censorship of a student's pro-Trump T-shirt.

In a letter Thursday to parents and students at the high school that was posted on the school district website, Superintendent Cheryl Dyer said the censorship of the Trump T-shirt worn by Grant Berardo, a member of the Crimson Knights' junior class, was just one of several changes, errors and omissions that were uncovered during the investigation into the issue.

Berardo, who was wearing a T-shirt like the one above that said "TRUMP" with the words "Make America Great Again" in smaller type below it, found his photo in the yearbook had been Photoshopped to remove the pro-Trump sentiment. But it was not the only change, she wrote.

"I do not believe that it is possible to create a yearbook of 248 pages, thousands of pictures, names, and lines of text and have it be error free," Dyer said. "I also think that reasonable people recognize that, but when the error pertains to them, they are rightfully upset."

"That being said, I cannot allow the intentional change that was not based on dress code to be ignored. I am the Chief School Administrator in this district and I take responsibility for the actions of those who are employed here. Therefore, I have determined that a re-issuance of the yearbook is necessary," Dyer wrote.

Dyer said she was first notified of about Berardo's T-shirt, as well as issues with yearbook entries for Wyatt Dobrovich-Fago, another junior, and Wyatt's sister Montana, president of the freshman class, on Thursday. By Monday, the issue had become a topic across the country "and in some cases around the world," Dyer said.

>>READ MORE: Censoring Of Wall Teen's Trump T-Shirt In Yearbook Under Investigation
>> Wall Yearbook Adviser Suspended Over Trump T-shirt Censorship

On Monday, Dyer indefinitely suspended yearbook adviser Susan Parsons, a teacher in the technology/media department. Parsons is suspended with pay, per the state Department of Education's administrative code, Dyer said. In an NJ.com report, Dyer said there was no evidence that students had altered Berardo's T-shirt.

"I was deeply disturbed by the allegations (of censorship)," Dyer said. "however, I have not yet been able to determine why this happened. In some cases I know how it happened; but, I think the issue is really about why it happened."

Dyer said the following errors were found during the investigation:

• The shirt worn by one student (Grant Berardo) was altered using digital technology and his support for President Trump was removed. This was intentional.
• The vest worn by another student (Wyatt Dobrovich-Fago) was re‐sized in the same manner as all of the other underclass photos and in doing so the name of our President was no longer visible. The fact that “Trump” was no longer visible in the yearbook photo does not appear to be intentional.
• A quote submitted by a class president (Montana Dobrovich-Fago) was not included even though it was submitted on time. She did not have a definitive answer on whether it was an oversight, carelessness, or intentional.
• A photo of a junior was not included. She did not have a definitive answer on whether it was an oversight, carelessness, or intentional.
• A senior has his eyes closed in the picture even though other photos with his eyes open were available. She did not have a definitive answer on whether it was an oversight, carelessness, or intentional.
• The photos of the sophomore class officers and sophomore class president were not included. She did not have a definitive answer on whether it was an oversight, carelessness, or intentional.
• Several pictures from the Bermuda trip were altered to add or extend clothing on students. "This was intentional and I have not been provided with a reason at this time," she said.

"The mistakes that are identified above will be corrected in the re‐issued yearbook, which should be available in about two weeks," Dyer wrote, adding that the changes made to the photos from the Bermuda trip cannot be corrected.

Parents and students will be notified through the district's Blackboard Connect system when the books are available, and those who purchased yearbooks will be able to receive the revised book, she said.

The cost to the district for the reprint was not immediately available. Dyer said in an interview late Tuesday afternoon that the cost was likely in the tens of thousands of dollars, however. Students paid $110 per book, and while there are roughly 1,200 students in the high school, not every one purchased a book.

Dyer said the original cost of producing the yearbook was funded primarily through fundraising and the price students pay for the book, and that any contribution to the cost from the district, if it made one, was minimal.

Joseph Berardo Jr., Grant Berardo's father, told NJ 101.5 in an interview Monday that he was pleased with how the investigation was being handled.

But Wyatt Dobrovich-Fago, who addressed the Wall Township Committee on the issue Wednesday night, told the Coast Star that he wanted to see it investigated by someone outside the district. It's a sentiment shared by a handful of parents who have said they do not feel Dyer could be impartial based on a November controversy over an op-ed piece from the New York Times that Dyer shared on the district's website. The opinion piece, titled "Bullying in the Age of Trump," highlighted more than 430 incidents of harassment directed at minorities in the first 10 days following Trump's election.

Dyer said she shared the piece in the wake of "som very disturbing cases of bullying at the middle school."

"We had kids being told they were going to be sent back to Mexico," Dyer said, as well as harassment over who students had supported in the election. "I had children going home on buses crying" because of the bullying," she said.

When she posted the opinion piece on the district's website — a violation of school district policy because it was an opinion piece — it was meant only to bring attention to the issue of bullying, she said, with the goal of reminding everyone there are respectful ways to disagree.

Some parents took it as Dyer expressing opposition for Trump; she pulled the link to the opinion piece from the district's website and apologized, she said.

"I am not anti-Trump," Dyer said Tuesday, "I am anti-bullying. I am also anti-censorship."

"This situation has nothing to do with" what happened in November, Dyer said. "Someone wants to try to make this about me and it's not about me. We shouldn't be mixing apples and oranges."

"This is just about the issue of censorship," Joseph Berardo told NJ.com on Tuesday. "The kids should know that they can't be censored, unless it's rude or inappropriate. And from the teaching side of it, I think teachers have to understand that the kids don't check their rights at the door."

Joseph and Grant Berardo have not responded to Patch requests for comment, and contact information for the Dobrovich-Fago family has not been located.

In the Thursday letter to parents and students, Dyer said she will be insisting on checks and balances "to ensure that intentional alterations that are not consistent with district policy do not continue and unintentional mistakes from carelessness, lack of attention to detail, or lack of sufficient proofreading are minimized."

"I sincerely apologize for the mistakes that were made (intentional and unintentional)," she wrote.

School district policy bars students from wearing shirts that tout drugs, alcohol, violence or other illegal activities, said Dyer, who added she sees no reason to change that policy.

"I think abnything they can wear to school they can wear for the yearbook," Dyer said. "The yearbook is a representation of who they are. Why would we exclude it?"

"If they're supporting a supporting a political candidate or supporting the president, why is that a bad thing?" she said. "I was surprise there weren't more. It's great that there's a political voice among our young people. I wouldn't want to stifle it."

Photo of a Trump T-shirt like the one Grant Berardo wore in his school photo, via Amazon.com