About

The Playwickian Mission Statement

The Playwickian, the voice of Neshaminy High School, is the student-produced monthly publication dedicated to reporting serious news, creating enticing features and delivering thought-provoking editorials in order to inform, enlighten, educate and entertain the Neshaminy community. The members of the Playwickian staff contribute their time and effort to provide the student body with a forum to exercise students’ First Amendment rights, while remaining truthful and accurate in the responsible reporting of information. The editorial board and staff writers welcome the expression of diversity by increasing the scope of our coverage in order to heighten global awareness throughout the school community.

The Playwickian Policy Statement

The following is an excerpt from Policy 600 which the Playwickian staff must follow. The excerpt is not representative of Policy 600 in its entirety.The Playwickian has been directed to publish this excerpt of the Policy in its masthead. The staff feels this section of the policy is also important to be featured in the masthead: “It is the intent of the Board of School Directors of the School District that School District publications be considered government speech for purposes of the First Amendment and to the extent permitted by the First Amendment.”

Playwickian Policy: The policy of the Playwickian which shall be published as part of the masthead of the newspaper shall be as follows:
“Policy. Subject to applicable law and the terms, conditions and limitations set forth in Policy 600 of the Board of School Directors of the Neshaminy School District and this policy statement, it is the policy of School District that student journalists shall have the right to determine the content of the Playwickian. Except for advertisements, all content shall be prepared by students, subject to editing by others.
Students: (a) strive to produce media based upon professional standards of accuracy, objectivity and fairness; (b) review material to improve sentence structure, grammar, spelling and punctuation; (c) check and verify all facts and verify the accuracy of all quotations; and (d) in the case of editorials or letters to the editor concerning controversial issues, determine the need for rebuttal comments and opinions and provide space therefore if appropriate. As examples, and not limitations on the proper authority of school officials, the following types of expression will not be approved for publication: (a) material that is obscene; (b) the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value; (c) indecent or vulgar language is not obscene; (d) material that violates the legal or constitutional rights of others; (e) material that will cause a material and substantial disruption of school activities; and (f) any other material that the school authorities reasonably believe should be prohibited.
Within the terms, conditions and limitations of Policy 600 and this policy statement, students are free to express opinions. Specifically, a student may criticize school policy or the performance of teachers, administrators, school officials and other school employees.
The viewpoints expressed by anyone in this paper shall not be deemed to be the viewpoins of the School District, any official or employee of the School District, or any student other than the student or students who expressed the viewpoint.

To view the policy in its entirety, click here: http://www.neshaminy.org/cms/lib6/PA01000466/Centricity/Domain/7/Policy%20600.pdf