SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Some Utah high school students who
cracked their yearbooks to find sleeves digitally added to their tank
tops and a tattoo erased say school officials have apologized to them.
Wasatch
High School administrators in recent days offered at least one student
the chance to return her yearbook and get back her $50.
But sophomore Shelby Baum opted to keep the memento.
"I
was a little surprised, but for the most part I knew, if it was real or
not, I would get an apology," she said Monday evening. "I’m over the
whole thing. There’s not much that I can do about it now."
Last
week, Baum discovered her collarbone tattoo reading "I am enough the way
I am" was lifted from her yearbook photo. She also found a high, square
neckline drawn onto her black V-neck T-shirt.
Half a dozen other girls noticed camisoles or sleeves added to their pictures.
District
officials declined to comment Tuesday, pointing to their statement last
week acknowledging error in doctoring pictures of some students but not
others who were similarly dressed.
Wasatch High School is in Heber City, about 40 miles from Salt Lake City. It has an enrollment of about
1,700.
Baum
earlier said she planned to ask for a refund or a new yearbook with an
unaltered photo, but she changed her mind at her mother’s urging.
At
the very least, said Baum’s mother, Bobbi Westergard, the doctored
photos can remind the girls they spoke out against a policy that singled
out some students.
Baum said she and her mother met with a vice principal who told them he didn’t want Baum to feel
unwelcome at the school.
The
district’s statement pointed out that yearbook staffers warned students
that clothing violating the school dress code, which adheres to
modesty, might undergo digital touchups.
"The high school yearbook
staff did make some errors and were not consistent in how they were
applied to student photos," it reads, "and the school apologizes for
that inconsistency."
Other students say they have not received an
apology but are eager to move past the ordeal and on with summer
vacation, which began Friday.
Sophomore Rachel Russell, 16, said
she received a phone call from the school’s principal, who explained he
was sorry for the ordeal.
"I’m still kind of ticked that it
happened," she said Tuesday, adding she is turning her attention this
week to a planned summer road trip with her sister and grandmother.
Sophomores
Haylee Nielsen and Kimberly Montoya said they did not hear from
officials, aside from a school-wide email acknowledging the alterations.
Baum’s
mother said her daughter has had to endure comments on online news
stories from people wondering what kind of 16-year-old would have a
tattoo.
"I think a lot of people are missing the point,"
Westergard said, characterizing her daughter as a dedicated, responsible
student.
The teens said their biggest concern is preventing such edits in future years.
"I’m glad we were able to speak out about it," Montoya said.
The students conveyed that there are more important things to worry about "than a girl showing her
shoulders," she said.