Some Oliver Middle School parents upset after LGBTQ+ page cut out of yearbooks

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Some Broken Arrow families are expressing concerns about a yearbook page dedicated to LGBTQ+ students was taken out of the student-run yearbook.

Oliver Middle School parent, Teera Spino, said her two daughters were in the class and worked hard to help design pages.

However, May 19, the day before the last day of school on the May 20, students received the yearbooks. As her daughters and other classmates went through it, getting the first glance at the finished product, they noticed a page was missing.

In between the “History and Culture” page and an elective page was an LGBTQ+ page. It showed a student survey of LGBTQ students in school, and in the bottom corner it shows the different pronouns and students interviews.

“This particular page was cut out of each and everyone one of the yearbooks post-production,” Spino said.

Spino showed FOX23 the yearbook. It goes from page 76 to 79, with a clear cut out of a page where 77 and 78 was. Spino said this is upsetting.

“It was a complete shock and incredible disappointment because they worked so very hard. This group approved the LGBTQ+, did interviews, took pictures, designed the page. The page was graded at 100. It was put into production then physically cut out,” she said.

According to Broken Arrow Public Schools, the district was made aware of the page.

In an email, the district said, “Header: Some Oliver Middle School parents upset about LGBTQ+ page physically removed from yearbook

According to BAPS, the district was made aware of the page. In an e-mail from the district it said: “One of the pages included information about the LGBTQ+ community at Oliver Middle School and included pictures of students with quotes next to the pictures that were attributed as ‘anonymous.’ The site principal worked with district administration and determined this to be an issue of student privacy as the ‘anonymous’ quotes were next to the pictures of the students who provided them. The pages were then removed from each yearbook prior to being distributed to protect the privacy of the students on the page.”

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