In June 2009, former and current Spoke editors learned that the Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board was considering changes to its student publications policy. Only a few weeks after the special investigation “Obligation to Report” — which investigated the challenges involved in making sure school employees are not criminals — was published, the school district released a revision to its policy. What was once an 86-word policy turned into seven pages of proposed regulations. Those rules proposed a system of administrative censorship.

Starting in the summer of 2009, and lasting for a total of five months, current and former Spoke editors engaged in a series of involved discussions with school board members and district officials and reached out to supportive community members. The campaign was also the subject of local and national news coverage (see at right). 

Because of these efforts, and the advice of the Student Press Law Center, the district changed its proposal, replacing it with one that correctly identified and defined today's legal standards. 

Now, Friends of The Spoke is focused on two goals: keeping the community — students, community members, alumni and national journalism organizations — informed about the latest news from The Spoke, and providing journalism programs facing censorship with resources to help aid their campaign.

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