Pine View School: Principal Uses AI to Reject Student Newspaper Articles Critical of School Board

On January 28, 2026, two student journalists for The Torch, Pine View School’s student newspaper, learned their articles were under review. Both articles — an opinion piece and a news story — included comments or quotes critical of the Sarasota County School Board. Although board policy vests editorial control in the principal, it requires any rejections to be viewpoint neutral and based only on “legitimate pedagogical interests.” On February 6, Pine View School principal Stephen Covert gave the student journalists AI-generated feedback, citing the “pedagogical” reasons he barred the pieces as  “strong criticism of the school board,” and examples of “voting behavior.” Covert’s decision appeared not to be connected with reasonable educational goals but rather an effort to silence criticism of the school board. On February 18, FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative wrote to the school board, urging officials to reverse Covert’s decision to withhold the piece.