Newark Schools Chief Apologizes for Yearbook Photo Flap

Newark city schools superintendent apologized to gay student for the removal of photo depicting the student kissing his boyfriend

The city schools superintendent of Newark, NJ, apologized to a gay student, Andre Jackson, on June 26 for directing staff members to  black out a photo of Jackson kissing his boyfriend from the East Side High School yearbook. Superintendent Marion A. Bolden called her decision to remove the photo a “homophobic moment.”

Jackson, who paid $150 for a page in the yearbook, initially refused to accept Bolden’s personal apology, and urged her to address the entire student body. During her public remarks, she said any and all kissing photos should have been removed from the yearbook. Photos of heterosexual couples were not removed.

The district said it would re-issue an uncensored version of the 2007 yearbook.


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