Bartram Trail High School, in Florida, has offered refunds amid outrage from parents and female students when it became apparent that yearbook photos that were deemed in violation of the student code of conduct were edited, Fox News reports.
According to WJXT, they were told by the district that the procedure previously employed by the school involved the pictures of the students as violating the aforementioned student code of conduct simply being excluded from the yearbook, thus "the digital alterations were a solution to make sure all students were included in the yearbook."
The yearbooks, which cost $100 apiece to purchase, were released to the students this week, with some recipients then discovering that their images were apparently subject to certain adjustments.
This is a before and after yearbook photo taken of Bartram Trail 9th grade high school student, Riley O’Keefe.
— Ben Ryan (@BenRyanANJax) May 20, 2021
She says it was deemed inappropriate by the school and photoshopped in the printed edition.
Parents and students are now asking for a major change.@ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/f8MjkZMDOw
"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," a freshman named Riley O’Keefe said, describing the changes made to her photo.
"I didn’t think I would’ve been censored. I thought it was only one or two girls," sophomore Elizabeth McCurdy said. "So, I went to go look at my picture and I was appalled to see that I was censored."
The media outlet also notes that a disclaimer on Bartram Trail’s website warns: "All images in ads and all individual student pictures must be consistent with the St. Johns County School District Student Code of Conduct or may be digitally adjusted."
To receive a refund, parents will have to turn in the yearbook, according to reports.
