The principal of Sunnyvale’s Fremont High School is threatening to eliminate the journalism class that produces the student newspaper because too few students are signing up — only 17 instead of the 31 or 32 needed to continue the course, the Mercury News reports.

Students are protesting the move, saying that if they lose the paper, they lose their voice. The students are going around with duct tape over their mouths.

The principal, James Maxwell, says the students can always form an after-school journalism club to keep the paper going. But the club won’t provide the academic credit many of the students are presumably seeking.

For what it’s worth, Merc columnist Scott Herhold is taking principal’s side in the dispute, saying that if the school keeps a small sized journalism class, it will mean other classes will have to be larger, and that’s not fair in his book. Herhold says the enrollment reflects larger trends in society.

Above, from left, Lucia Tran, Chelsey Singh, Vered Hazanchuk and Alishia Forkapa protest in front of Fremont High School. (Photo credit: Maria J. Avila, Mercury News)