September 21, 1997
MARYLAND -- After controversy rocked the Montgomery County School Board during the spring semester, students and administrators have made progress towards a new set of guidelines for the county cable system's education channel.
A commission of students, teachers, administrators and school system employees who operate the station has sent its recommendation to Associate Superintendent Joseph Villani for further review.
Originally, school administrators refused to allow the airing of the Blair High School student-produced "Shades of Grey" program on October 15, 1996. The show featured a panel discussion on same-sex marriage.
After a battle with the school administration, WBNC executive producer Andrea Stuart eventually won on appeal.
In an April 23 ruling, the board denied that the school district's cable channel served as "open 'public forums' for student or other public expression," but allowed the student to air the program five times in May since "the discretion of the superintendent and his staff was not exercised appropriately."
Only five of the eight board members supported the decision.
The board also ordered the rapid development of new guidelines for all future broadcasts and proscribed all live programming until a policy had been approved, prompting students to call the decision a "hollow victory" in The Washington Blade.
By May, the commission had determined new policy recommendations. Stuart said that the commission "set up new standards for content and technical quality."
The suggested policy says content may not be slanderous or libelous and creates certain guidelines for students to follow when material has a political nature, said Stuart. A section of the policy's wording is in line with a "human relations" policy the school developed in 1996. That policy was an effort to be more sensitive to the needs of groups such as minorities and homosexuals according to Stuart.
"The school system doesn't want to take a stance with the television station," Stuart said. "They really don't want any programming that isn't as they say 'fair' or 'equal.'"
According to Jamin Raskin, the lawyer who represented the students, the school district's policy on print media does not include restrictions regarding political or controversial material. The only speech proscribed is that which is obscene, libelous, encourages illegal activity or threatens to disrupt the school day.
Stuart -- a member of the commission ‹ expressed some concern over ambiguous language in the recommendations for electronic media.
"It's really subjective, which is what worries me a bit," she said, adding, however, that she did not think any programming the station had aired before would have been censored under the new suggested policy.
Although there was little debate within the commission over content standards, said Stuart, the issue of live programming could not be resolved. She said that rather than coming to a conclusion, the commission drew up a list of the pros and cons of live programming and forwarded it with the rest of the recommendation. Seven of the nine shows that Blair students broadcast over the 1996-97 school year were live.
"I produced a live show last year and it was an incredible growing experience," said Stuart. "Getting community involvement is one of the most vital parts of live programming.... Whenever we go live we have people call in and ask questions."
During May, no WBNC shows were broadcast live. Students sent shows "live-on-tape" to the cable station's program director, Barbara Wood, who reviewed them before airing. Wood, who also was a member of the commission, declined to comment on the recommendation or the future of live programming at Blair.
"We do what the board tells us to do," said Wood, adding that until the board rules on the commission's recommendation, the guidelines set up in the April 23 board decision would apply.
The school district office could not predict when the board would address the matter.
© 1997 Student Press Law Center
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