Media Relations

Yuma Union High School District recognizes its responsibility to provide information to the community and actively seeks to establish a positive working relationship with the news media, per YUHSD Governing Board Policy KDD. While we are committed to cooperating with media requests for access to our schools and students, we are also obligated to protect the privacy of students and employees. To help facilitate media requests, we ask media representatives to use the following information as guidance for making requests and accessing our campuses.

Media Inquiries

In accordance to YUHSD Governing Board Policy KDDA, any news story relating to the following topics should be coordinated through the communications office by contacting YUHSD Chief Communications Officer Eric Patten at (928) 502-4676 or by email: 

• Interview requests with district office staff, administrators, teachers, or students 
• District school policies and procedures
• Personnel (ie: athletic coaching hires, campus administrator hires and any other areas involving school personnel)
• Inquiries about specific students in Yuma Union High School District
• Crisis or breaking news regarding any school within Yuma Union High School District

For requests for information directly related to a school (such as school events), media should contact the respective assistant principal. The YUHSD Communications Office will work closely with campus administrators in regard to media requests. 

• If the media inquiry relates to a district issue rather than a specific school, the Chief Communications Officer, Superintendent, or an Associate Superintendent will speak on the school’s behalf or provide a spokesperson.

Media Access

Yuma Union High School District is committed to providing up-to-date information on the district and its activities in a timely and appropriate manner. It is also Yuma Union High School District's responsibility to maintain an atmosphere conducive to learning with as few disruptions as possible. In order to do so, Yuma Union High School District requests that media adheres to the following guidelines when requesting access to one of our school campuses:  

• Yuma Union High School District recognizes the press having legal right to visit our schools, but in order to protect the privacy of the students and staff, media representatives (journalists, photojournalists, videographers, photographers) are not permitted on school property to interview, photograph, or videotape without prior approval from the Communications Office, YUHSD Superintendent, school principal or designee.
• Per YUHSD Governing Board Policy KI-R, all school visitors, including media representatives, must check in at the reception desk and obtain a visitor pass. Visitor passes will normally be issued only to those persons known by the administration. Visitor passes will not be issued on testing days. Administrators may refuse anyone a visitor pass.
• At the discretion of the Chief Communications Officer, school/district administrators may grant media access and arrange interviews with staff and/or students.
• Interviews will not be conducted during school hours or on school property without the prior approval and/or presence of school/district administrator or designee.
• Before any student is photographed, videotaped, or interviewed, consent must be granted by the student’s parent or legal guardian via the district's media release form. 
• Media are encouraged not to publish names or photos of any student or school district individual without making sure their photo can be published in any news medium format.
• As a general rule, media may take general shots of students without parental consent during public school events (such as athletic games) as long as students are not identified or singled out.

Information Requests

Per YUHSD Governing Board Policy JR and Arizona Revised Statute 15-141, Yuma Union High School District ensures the protection of student/employee privacy and will not release any information that may reveal a student’s identity, respect the privacy of our teachers and employees, and will not release any personal or personnel-related information unless required by law. Additionally, we will not comment on any case that is before the courts and refer all questions related to police investigations to the proper authority. For more information on federal guideline pertaining to student and employee privacy, please refer to the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Designated Spokespeople

The Yuma Union High School District Superintendent can designate spokespeople to address issues relating to media inquiries. For media inquiries directly related to schools, each school’s principal can speak on issues impacting their school. Below is a list of designated spokespeople for YUHSD and their contact information: