Yearbook photo flap goes national

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A racy photo submitted for a high school yearbook in southwestern Colorado has garnered national attention.

Sydney Spies, 18, said administrators at Durango High School rejected a photo she submitted for her senior portrait because it violated the school’s dress code.

The photo showed the teen in a short yellow skirt and midriff-baring top.

Spies appeared on network TV Monday to talk about the controversy.

Student yearbook editors told News 13 it was actually their decision, and their decision alone, not to allow the photo because they felt it was “inappropriate and unprofessional.”

Yearbooks editors said the photo can appear in the senior ads section, which seniors pay for and is separate from the portraits.

“The senior portraits are what represents the class of 2012 or whatever class it, is and it represents the class as a whole, while the senior ads really just advertise the student as an individual,” Paige Shacklett, the yearbook's student editor, said.

The yearbook staff plans to create a policy to let students know the staff has the power to reject any photos they deem inappropriate.