Officials turning a page on P'burg High yearbook Replacement promised. Questionable photo led to ripping-out of Page 224. W ednesday, June 14, 2006 • By MICHELLE PITTMAN • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | School officials have pledged to replace the page that was ripped Monday from hundreds of copies of Phillipsburg High School's yearbook. But that may not be enough to soothe the hard feelings. "I think it was just a knee-jerk reaction," Phillipsburg School Board President Paul Rummerfield said. "I asked the question today, who gave the order, and I didn't get a response. I think it's a situation where no one wants to blame someone else, but we are trying to get this resolved." A picture on Page 224 showed a female student wearing a skirt and sitting at a desk during a play; a bit of her underwear could be seen. Superintendent Gordon Pethick called the photo questionable and said the page was removed after consideration at the high school level. "I was notified sometime (Monday) morning that there was an issue," he said. "The principal came over with the yearbook and we took a look. We spoke to the student and her parents and they said it wasn't a problem. At that point, I thought the issue was resolved." Efforts to reach the student and her parents were unsuccessful. The page was removed from hundreds of seniors' yearbooks Monday afternoon, which were issued to seniors earlier in the day. Pethick said he doesn't know who gave the order to remove the page or if it was removed from every copy. The first he heard of the page being removed was Monday evening, when a parent called to complain about ruining an $80 book. "I think one of the student's relatives got back to people at the high school," Pethick said. "I'm not sure." Director of Secondary Education George Chando said he also didn't know who gave the order to remove the page. Meredith Haydu, a student editor for the yearbook, said students were told the female student's mother asked for the picture to be omitted. "I understood where (the mother) was coming from," Haydu said. "I can't speak for anyone else, but if a parent asks for it to be removed, the school doesn't have much choice. But I didn't think it was necessary." Pethick said the school has made arrangements with the yearbook publisher to reproduce the page, though he's not sure if the picture will be removed and replaced or merely edited. The picture was part of a collage on the school's drama club. The other side of the page had photos from pep rallies. "I don't think it's worth it to go pick up one page," Haydu said. "I'm an athlete, so I wanted to see the pep rally pictures, but now it doesn't seem like it's worth the trip." Rummerfield said he heard from students who said other pages in the book were ruined as a result of the page being cut out with X-Acto knives. He said he doesn't know what arrangements will be made for students who had other pages cut. "Hindsight is 20-20," he said. "Maybe they should have confiscated the books and fixed the problem when they weren't in such haste. Some of the kids came up with the idea of just blacking out that area of the photo, but it was rejected." "The problem is that there are still unaltered books out in the community," he said. "The way it was handled was not an official district position." Reporter Michelle Pittman can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at mpittman@express-times.com. © 2006 The Express-Times. Used with permission.