A long-running fight over student journalism at Mountain View High School has flared again, with a lawyer for students accusing administrators of weakening the program and the current adviser pushing back.
The letter
In an Oct. 19 letter to the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District board, attorney Jean-Paul Jassy said older students are teaching younger ones, that the class has no textbook and that a midterm exam may have been created with artificial intelligence, the Palo Alto Daily Post reported. The school's student newspaper is The Oracle. Jassy contrasted the program with the one at Los Altos High.
The adviser's response
Adviser Tammy Gilmore disputed the accusations, calling them false and saying she uses a textbook, “Journalism: Publishing Across Media,” according to the Daily Post. She pointed to a dispute over an article about Black cultural appropriation and to concerns about allegedly fabricated quotes, and said she plans to file a State Bar complaint.
The program has had turnover. According to the Daily Post, former adviser Carla Gomez, who the lawsuit alleges was removed in retaliation over a published article, was replaced by drama teacher Zachary Morris, and Morris was later replaced by Gilmore. Introduction to Journalism was canceled and replaced with a Digital Communications class.
The lawsuit
Separately, a lawsuit filed Feb. 22, 2024, by a former journalism teacher and students against Principal Kip Glazer and the district is moving toward a jury trial scheduled for Nov. 23, the Los Altos Town Crier reported. Nicholas Hartmann of the law firm Jassy Vick Carolan is representing the plaintiffs pro bono.
What's next
The district has not resolved the dispute publicly, and claims from both sides have not been tested in court. The trial date could still change.