High School Is Accused Of Censorship As Officials Rip Out Yearbook Pages On The News

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The theme of Bigelow High School's 2020 - 2021 yearbook was The Roaring 20s. But it appears officials at the Arkansas school wanted the student record of the events of the tumultuous year to be a little less of a roar and more of a meow.

Before delivering the keepsakes to students earlier this month, school administrators ripped out a two-page spread depicting a timeline of events from the academic year. Among the high/lowlights included were the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, former President Donald Trump's claims of a rigged election, the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is unclear exactly who was behind the decision to excise the pages from the student-designed yearbook, but East End School District Superintendent Heidi Wilson justified the move by citing "community backlash."

Wilson did not reply to NPR's requests for comment.

Meanwhile, some students and parents say it's censorship.

Madison Johnston was in the class that produced the yearbook and was disappointed when she began to hear from other students about the changes after "a group of parents had complained about it being biased."