One of the interesting things about school referendums is that school districts are supposed to be neutral.

School officials can provide voters with information, but they are forbidden by state law from taking a position, such as asking residents to vote for a tax increase.

Recently, the Citizens for Reasonable and Fair Taxes implied that a video shown before a March referendum at Huntley High School was school-funded propaganda put out by administrators. Members of the anti-tax group, founded by Harvard residents Jim and Cathy Peschke, were so upset that they complained to the Illinois State Board of Elections and to the McHenry County state's attorney.

The problem with this complaint is, it is misleading. First of all, District 158 officials did not make the film. It was made by broadcast journalism students. Their assignment was to pick an issue that students would care about. So they chose the referendum.

"We give the students quite a bit of leeway," said Kay Meyer, the broadcast journalism teacher. "This was not a directive from the administration or from me."

Meyer said the students had assignments to come up with stories that would be shown during morning announcements. Other stories included how to save the lives of squirrels and the need for school spirit.

The video on the referendum never comes out and says people should vote for a tax increase. That being said, a montage showing all the programs that would be cut with background music of "Na, Na, Hey, Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)" certainly can be described as manipulative.

But what do you expect? Students don't pay taxes, and they like extracurricular activities.

The video featured interviews with Superintendent Steve Swanson and Principal Dave Johnson, but neither said anything he had not said before. It's not unusual for administrators to grant requests for interviews to student media.

Should administrators have quashed the student report? If a student writes an editorial in the school paper favoring a tax increase, should it be banned because the paper is funded by the district?

State elections board Executive Director Dan White said quashing student speech was not the intent of the state law. He said he doubted the video would be a violation.

Having said all that, it would be wrong for school officials to use student journalists as puppets to promote an agenda. But there's no evidence that happened with the video.

We should want students discussing issues relevant to their lives. A common complaint is that students are too apathetic.

My hope would be that on issues such as the referendum, students can express an opinion, no matter what their position.

* Columnist Brian Slupski's commentary appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. He can be reached by e-mail at bslupski@nwherald.com or at (815) 459-4122.