Can a school legally reprint a newspaper article?

The school should contact the newspaper and ask for permission. You'll need to tell them the planned usage (example: to be re-printed in a newsletter which has a readership of 450 - or whatever number). The newspaper may grant a one-time, limited use.

As well, the article must be shown fully, with the author's by-line, and source given (newspaper name, city, state, date of publication, section number, page number). Newspapers are often willing to help schools, but schools in particular must pay close attention to copyright, citation, and stating "Re-print permission granted on (date)" at the bottom of the article. The Re-print permission statement can contain whether the permission is a one-time use; ask the newspaper how they want the Re-print statement to read.

When you call the paper, ask for the Managing Editor.