NEW HAMPSHIRE -- The Souhegan Cooperative School Board in
Amherst is reexamining its yearbook policy after a controversy over the Souhegan
High School yearbook printing portrait photos of two students charged in
connection with a murder.
The controversy, which has many members of the community declaring their
outrage and has drawn media coverage in New Hampshire and nationally, revolves
around the school yearbook's pictures of William Marks and Quinn Glover.
Both have been charged in connection with an Oct. 4 home invasion, during which
42-year-old Kimberly Cates was murdered and her 11-year-old daughter was
injured, according to the
Associated Press.
School officials have moved the location of tonight's regular meeting
to a bigger room in anticipation of a large public turnout, Board Chair Steve
Coughlan said.
Cates' husband, Dave Cates, called the decision to include the
pictures a "slap in the face" to his family.
"This decision shows extremely poor judgment and calls into question
your ability to make sound day-to-day decisions for the school district,"
he said in a
letter to Superintendent Mary Jennings, Principal Jim Bosman and the yearbook advisory
committee.
Jennings and Bosman later apologized in a statement released June 4.
"We want to say that we are extremely sorry that decisions made by our
school have added to the pain and loss that Dave Cates and members of [the]
community feel every day in relation to the death of Dave's wife and harm
to his daughter," the statement said, according to the Associated Press.
School officials previously told the
Union Leader
that the decision followed school policy and involved several people, including
the families of Marks and Glover.
"Because both students were and continue to be Souhegan High School
students, their names and photos were included," Jennings said.
"Both boys are receiving educational services while
incarcerated."
Coughlan said he would not comment on what he expected to come from
tonight's board meeting, but he said if any policy changes were to be
made, it would not happen immediately.
"In New Hampshire, one of the roles of the school board -- one
of the few roles -- is to make policy," he said. "So if
we're unhappy with what has happened, the vehicle is to examine our
policies and amend them."
The meeting will include an opportunity for public comments.
By Josh Moore, SPLC staff writer
