CONCORD, N.H. -- The Londonderry School Board has voted to bar students from posing with props in all senior yearbook portraits -- creating yet another obstacle for a senior who hopes to appear with his broke-open shotgun draped over his shoulder.

Blake Douglass is suing the board in federal court for banning his photo from the seniors section of the Londonderry High School yearbook. He rejected a compromise to have the photo in a specially created community sports section, saying it is his right to choose the photo for his portrait.

Douglass, 17, is an avid sport shooter. He had wanted to pose with his shotgun to reflect his interest in trap shooting, skeet shooting and hunting.

School administrators agree the photo, which shows Douglass kneeling outdoors, is not threatening.

The policy, adopted unanimously Tuesday, will take effect this year. It does away with a long-standing school tradition of allowing seniors to pose with athletic equipment, musical instruments, pets, cars and other props in senior photos. The policy supersedes one with general warnings about libel, profanity and discriminatory content. The board will take comments on its proposal at a meeting Jan. 25.

Penny Dean is Douglass' lawyer.

"They can change the rules however they want for next year," she said Wednesday. "But they are doing this explicitly because of Blake Douglass and everyone knows it."

School Superintendent Nathan Greenberg said the policy change does not make the lawsuit moot.

"It doesn't undermine anything, it's just basically a reiteration of the position the board has taken," he said.

Dean said she was shocked by the move, and believes it was based on a suggestion Judge Steven McAuliffe made to board lawyer Russell Hilliard during a scheduling conference last month.

"Judge McAuliffe was intellectually analyzing the case and he said to Russ, 'All you have to do is pass a rule -- no props in the pictures -- and this case is done,"' Dean said.

"This judge is the one who's going to make the decisions yet he's telling them what to do?"

Dean said she planned to file a complaint with a court alleging a violation of Douglass' due process. She said she also will ask McAuliffe to take himself off the case.

Hilliard did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon; McAuliffe declined a request for comment.

High school Principal James Elefante said the policy affects Douglass and two other seniors -- one posing with a horse, the other with a football. He said on average, only a handful of about 400 seniors submit photos with props.

"Is the policy a reaction to what happened this year?" he said. "The answer is yes. It's obvious that we need to define more for our students what they can and cannot put in." (AP)