REDDING, Calif. -- Officials at a Northern California high school have reversed their decision to shut down a school newspaper that published a front-page photo of a student burning an American flag.

Shasta High School Principal Milan Woollard had said the newspaper and an accompanying journalism class would not operate next year after the "embarrassing" final issue of the student-run Volcano was published June 3. The issue also featured an editorial defending flag-burning as a form of speech protected under the First Amendment.

The district's superintendent, Mike Stuart, said Friday that he agreed to keep the program after incoming editor-in-chief Amanda Cope appealed to him for a chance to publish a serious, respectable paper.

"We're going to give her that shot," Stuart told the Record Searchlight.

Cope said she had worked hard to secure enough students to fill the class before the paper was ordered shut down. She said she sought out students who would be professional, with the goal of "revolutionizing" the newspaper.

Woollard had said his decision to shut down the Volcano was based on financial issues, but the final edition cemented that choice. He said the newspaper program will cost the school about $13,000 next year.

The newspaper's cover was a collage of photographs, some of which showed students in what appeared to be prom attire. Prominently displayed at the top of the collage was a photograph of a student holding a flag pole, with the American flag burning at its edge.

Senior Connor Kennedy said he chose the topic for his final column as editor-in-chief because he and his classmates had just studied flag-burning as part of the curriculum in their government class.

Stuart said he would reevaluate the newspaper and interest in the journalism program at the end of the next school year.

Redding is about 160 miles north of Sacramento.

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