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Students received letters, dated June 12, from principal Carroll Staub stating that a supplement to the yearbook will be published containing corrected pages, color photos and spring sports and club pages usually excluded because of publication deadlines.
The decision was made at a meeting held in early June between Staub, superintendent Robert Frick, a yearbook adviser and a representative of yearbook publishing company Herff Jones.
The original yearbook contains typographical errors, misidentified photos and photos of students from other school districts. Also, students were upset that senior Ryan Weitzel's photo was excluded from the book. Weitzel died in April after a five-year battle with malignant melanoma.
The issue was addressed at Monday night's school board meeting.
"Dr. Frick made a comment to the fact that the supplement was going to be done as an extended, larger-than-normal version to accommodate some of the things that were missed," James Byrnes, school board president, said. "They will address the things that were incorrect and try to make good."
Students paid $55 for the 320-page, hardcover books that were published by Herff Jones of Indiana.
Those who purchased copies will receive the "super supplement" free of charge. Graduates' copies will be mailed to their homes. Underclassmen can pick up the supplement at the high school office when it is available in early August.
"I appreciate that they're trying to improve it. It's better than before," Leslie Buch, a 2008 graduate, said. Buch tagged more than 150 errors in the book and showed them to Staub."It shows that they care. Before, it seemed like nobody was going to do anything," Buch said.
The letter states that the supplement will "accomplish three things: highlight the inspiration provided this year by Ryan 'Whitey' Weitzel, correct as many of the glaring errors/mistakes as possible, and attempt to restore faith and pride in this publication."
Those dissatisfied with the administration's solution can return yearbooks to the high school's main office by July 15 for a full refund.
"Anybody who was upset with the book had the opportunity to get their money back at the outset," Byrnes said.
"This is the the kind of thing I would assume our administration can handle, and it seems like they are taking the right steps to fix it," he said.
E-mail: kobrien@lnpnews.com
