Missouri High School Deletes Gay Students’ Quotes From Yearbook

By: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

KEARNEY, MO — A Missouri high school had the audacity to call remarks submitted by two senior High School students for their yearbook photos, offensive!

The two seniors Joey Slivinski and Thomas Swartz, wrote quotes about coming out as gay for their yearbook at Kearney High School but to their surprise, when they received their yearbook, the school had removed their comments.

After the story went viral, School officials contacted both boys families and said that they did not mean to cause the boys any harm but that they had strict guidelines as too what can be inserted in a year book.

KHS Principal David Schwarzenbach and KSD Superintendent of Schools released the following statement on this matter:

Dear KHS Families,

“District administrators were made aware of concerns regarding the removal of senior quotes from the school yearbook. Each year, graduating seniors are provided an opportunity to pick a favorite quote to be placed in the yearbook. In an effort to protect our students, quotes that could potentially offend another student or groups of students are not published. It is the school’s practice to err on the side of caution. Doing so in this case had the unintentional consequence of offending the very students the practice was designed to protect. We sincerely apologize to those students. All KSD staff understand the importance of inclusion and acceptance especially in an educational setting. We work diligently to help every student feel safe, supported, and included. District staff participate in ongoing training around issues of diversity and support student organizations that do the same. That being said, we acknowledge our mistake and will use it as a learning opportunity to improve in the future.”

Sincerely, Dave Schwarzenbach KHS Principal
Dr. Bill Nicely KSD Superintendent of Schools

Joey Slivinski and Thomas Swartz told ‘KCTV News 5’ that they planned to make stickers with their quotes to hand out to their friends.