Publication Policies

Below are Pack Press’ Publication Policies. These policies apply to all publications, including The Homestead (Yearbook), The HOWL (Broadcast), and content featured on this website.

Pack Press’ Goals:

Pack Press’ main goal is to educate the Davenport Community about school, local, national, and world news and headlines.
The Homestead (yearbook)’s primary goal is to create an accurate archive of the school year through photos, interviews, and stories and records.
All publications are designed to educate students about the 21st-century journalism process in the new digital age.

Forum for Public Expression

Students enrolled in advanced journalism classes at Davenport HS are working and learning to be journalists. As such, Pack Press’s forums are places for free expression of the uninhibited ideas of staff, students, and the community.
All news and yearbook stories are written in a way that maintains journalistic integrity. The views published in student media do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the advisers, staff, school communities, or Comal Independent School District (CISD).
A signed opinion piece is the opinion of the author only.

Story/Coverage Policy Decisions

Story and content decisions are at the sole discretion of students; while advisers and administrations may suggest story or topic ideas, students have the final say on story ideas. High school publications are forums for public expression and fall under the legal guidelines established by the Supreme Court in 1988 from Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier.
- Under Hazelwood, students make all story and content decisions. Administrators do not control content before publication. However, they may offer advice on sensitive issues. They may only request changes for stories that would disrupt the educational process.
The staff follows the Code of Ethics established by the Society of Professional Journalists. The four main principles are to Seek Truth and Report It, Minimize Harm, Act Independently, and Be Accountable.
As part of SPJ’s Code of Ethics to Act Independently, student journalists avoid conflicts of interest, deny favored treatment to special interests, and resist pressure to influence news coverage. Under this policy, those outside the staff may not review stories, pages, and other content.

Errors

While every effort is made for accuracy, we are human and we will make errors in publications.
If an error occurs in a publication that can be easily edited (i.e., published online), we will edit it as soon as possible.
If an error occurs in a printed or edited publication (such as The HOWL), we will be unable to address the correction. Pack Press works extremely hard to avoid these correction issues by providing proofs and ample time to give feedback on errors if spotted. Students and parents are asked to stay engaged with us throughout the school year to ensure our publications are the highest quality as possible.
We are unable to issue refunds on yearbooks or other printed matter if errors are found.

Advertisement

Ads are available for sale on the Pack Press website. This is routed through SNO (our hosting provider).
Sponsors who would like to be featured in The HOWL or our video broadcasts can click here for more information [link forthcoming].
Senior Ads are available for parents to purchase in the yearbook. See The Homestead page for more information.

Deaths

Pack Press aims to stay as informed as possible in the school community. If Pack Press is notified of a death, the following process will occur to memorialize the student or staff member:
- If the death occurs before the yearbook Senior Ad cut off date (January), a 1/2 pg ad will be produced at no cost to the family, school, or other stakeholders to memorialize the student. This ad will include the student’s photo, birth and death dates, and the words, “In Memory.” If they are a senior and already purchased an ad, we will work with the family and publisher to ensure that all needs are met to properly memorialize the student.
- If the death occurs after the yearbook Senior Ad cut off date (January), the News Production team will produce a graphic/still for the upcoming HOWL that memorializes the student (similar to a yearbook ad), and that episode of The HOWL will be dedicated to said student in the credits.
The above coverage is reliant upon the staff being made aware of the death. While we are very plugged into the school community and happenings, we can not report what we don’t know.

Yearbook Sales

All yearbook sales run through Varisty Yearbooks (the publisher). We are not authorized to “cash sell” books other than at specific times throughout the year (usually near the end of the year during distribution)
All yearbooks are “made to order”, thus, a specific number is printed and published. This number fluctuates year to year based on the previous year’s demand and publisher needs.
The price of the yearbook will increase throughout the school year (December, February, March)
Price varies yearly based on inflation, publishing costs, and printing agreements with our publisher.
All yearbooks must be picked up no later than one week after the designated distribution date. After said date, the yearbook becomes the property of Pack Press and may be sold or archived at our discretion.
Students are the only authorized persons to pick up a yearbook during distribution. All students must have:
- Claim Ticket (handed out no later than one week before the distribution date in advisory)
- Student ID Card (with visible and working barcode)
  - If you need a student ID card, please contact Student Services to acquire one.
  - All students MUST have a student ID for pickup. No temporary ID or other forms of ID will be accepted.
  - If a business or other party that is not a student (such as faculty or staff) purchased a yearbook, that will either be hand-delivered to them or arranged for pickup in the front office with same or similar identity verification.
Distribution will be on at least two days during May: once during advisory and once at the end of the day during car/bus pickup. More information about distribution will be shared with yearbook purchasers.
Yearbook damages must be reported on the same day of distribution. Students must claim any damages before leaving the distribution area to conduct a book swap. Once the yearbook is “checked out” (sign out of distribution), it becomes the property of the buyer, and no refunds or swaps can occur.
Book refunds will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the Yearbook Adviser. Most likely, the answer will be no, but please get in touch with the adviser with any questions or requests, and we can see what we can do.