Support GLBTI Teachers! SCOTTS VALLEY HS hosts special Board Meeting Monday at 7 PM
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Scotts Valley High School has been at the center of the local debate around Identity politics, with attacks on what some parents (and some right-wing commentators) call the "Gay Agenda."
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Teachers, students, parents, administrators, community advocates, GLBTI and allies, will attend a special meeting of the Scotts Valley Unified School Board, called specifically to address concerns that the school is pushing a "Gay and Lesbian Agenda." Specific complaints are that two Lesbian teachers are openly raising a child together, that students are being indocrinated against their will and that of their parents, and that teachers have propaganda hanging in their rooms (signs such as "Safe Space, Safe Person," "This place respects all people regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability," and "Respect all families"). Monday, February 7th at 7 PM, the meeting will take place in Scotts Valley High's Student Union building.

This conflict has been ongoing for several years. Triangle Speakers has had difficulty bringing their message into the school because of resistance from students and parents. Teachers have had their rooms vandalized (Swastikas and "Feminazi," among other things). Students have transfered to other schools out of fear and intimidation, parents have questioned the motives of several teachers, queer and otherwise, and the administration has been called upon to pressure teachers not to talk about homosexuality so gosh darn openly.

The issue has been portrayed in the local corporate media as one of parents who promote conservative family values in their homes fighting against queer teachers who push their agenda on a captive audience at school. For a Sentinel story published January 13th (www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/January/13/local/stories/03local.htm), Nancy Pasternak published the perspectives of one parent and one former student, without much context. Read the story for some perspective on the situation, although no current students, teachers, or faculty are interviewed for the piece (a school board member does reflect on an incident from two years ago, though). Letters to the editor from other parents and several teachers have already defended the school and attacked the "flimsy coverage" in the original article (www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/January/18/edit/let.htm), but for many the January article already framed the issue.

It is extremely important the the GLBTI and allied people are present at this meeting. Please be there to hear the rhetoric of intolerance and fear, to see the makeup of an important local school's board, to speak on behalf of a diversity of opinion, and to support students and teachers who are under attack.

Attacks on academic freedom continue to be drawn directly from FoxNews and corporate/government media outlets, who provide the 'talking points,' to sheeple who regurgitate phrase after phrase word for word from the television "programs." We must get out message out there! It is amazing to hear people so obviously repeating what they have been told, so obviously influenced by TV "news" and newspaper "reports." Please come and support this dialogue, the only way we'll move forward on this and many other issues in the education of our children!

Disculpe--la junta empezara a las 6 PM, no a las 7 PM.

Just FYI, go to www.nclrights.org/publications/parentoptout1104.htm to learn about how parents may NOT opt out of discussions about sexual orientation (e.g. diverse family structures, diversity among students) and gender identity (e.g. stereotypes, trans issues) in public schools, under California law.
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Call to Action: Attend the special SVUSD School Board Meeting on Monday, Feb 7 at 6 pm at SVHS.

You may have seen the recent articles in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the Scotts Valley Banner regarding an attempt to stop efforts to make Scotts Valley High School safer for all students, including GLBT students and their allies. If not, please visit the links at the end of this email. Students, parents, faculty and staff at Scotts Valley High School (SVHS), they are asking for community support.
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Forwarded from a teacher:


Hi,

My name is Jill Ohana. I am a UCSC Alumni and an openly gay teacher at Scotts Valley High School. For the last two & half years, teachers have been fighting intolerance targeted specifically at LGBTI & Questioning students, out teachers, and our allies. This fight was recently escalated by a very small, but vocal group of extremist parents. We have been attacked in the local newspaper, news station, and radio stations by this group in our attempt to maintain a safe and accepting enviornment for all our students. I will forward the emails that outline most of the events up to the present day.

I guess my appeal to the resource center is to alert as many people as we can in the local area about this situation. There is a special board meeting that has been called for Feb 7 at 6:00 pm at Scotts Valley High School's Student Union. The ACLU/GSA will be there on behalf of myself and my wife who also teachers at the high school and other teachers who are following AB 537, Ed. Code, and the Penal Code. Many parents are expected to attended. The extremist parent group will be given 20 minutes to state their demands. This parent group will have with them the Pacific Justice Institue (for monitoring). According to the radio show aired this past Saturday on KSCO 1080, this group is promising to show up in force. My greatest hope is that we can also show up in force. The teachers union of Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley will be standing together. The Diversity Center in Santa Cruz will be with us, as will many Scotts Valley Community members. A showing by UCSC students and faculty would be a welcomed and honored addition to our numbers. Thank you for any help that you might be able to extend.


Sincerely,
Jill & Rene Ohana
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Attend the special SVUSD School Board Meeting on Monday, Feb 7th at 6 pm at SVHS.

Your presence during this special meeting will show that there is support for a safe learning environment for all students.


Currently, the meeting's agenda includes a brief overview of the law by the district's attorney, 20 minutes during which Mr. D'Andrea will be permitted to make his complaints, 20 minutes during which SVHS Principal Nancy Serigstad, will explain what is happening on campus, and an open forum.


During the open forum, members of the community may speak for 3 minutes each. The Scotts Valley students, parents, faculty and staff are primarily requesting speakers from the Scotts Valley community as well as teachers and school administrators from Santa Cruz County schools (please give the folks from Scotts Valley the space to talk). A supportive presence in the audience from community members living throughout the county is very much appreciated.

The meeting will be held in the Student Union at Scotts Valley High School. To get there from Hwy 17 north, please take the Granite Creek Dr Exit. Exit towards Scotts Valley Drive. Go right on Glenwood Dr. The high school is at 555 Glenwood Dr. Note: Since the district expects this to be a well attended meeting, it is being held at the high school rather than their usual board meeting location.


QUICK SUMMARY

The controversy at SVHS has concerned teachers' ability to put posters regarding respect for the LGBT community in their classrooms, PA announcements sponsored by the student diversity group regarding LGBT community events, and classroom distribution of the SVHS student newspaper, which has run student written editorials representing both sides of various LGBT issues. A parent, Mr. D'Andrea, who is working closely with the right-wing Pacific Justice Institute, has threatened to sue the district over its supposed promotion of a "gay agenda." Of course, the real story is that the district hasn't done enough to implement AB 537, the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act, which protects students and teachers from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender. LGBT students from SVHS don't feel physically or emotionally safe. Some have left the district.


RESOURCES

www.cde.ca.gov/re/lr/sv/index.asp

www.gsanetwork.org/ab537

_www.casafeschools.org

http://www.diversitycenter.org/qytf/safeschools

ARTICLES

Santa Cruz Sentinel

www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/January/13/local/stories/03local.htm

www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/January/18/edit/let.htm

San Jose Mercury News (May require sign-up and log in)

www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/education/10777468.htm

Scotts Valley Banner: Articles will be posted on the Safe Schools Project website at www.diversitycenter.org/qytf/safeschools


To write a Letter to the Editor:

Sentinel: santacruzsentinel.com/news/edit/form.htm

S.J. Mercury: letters (at) mercurynews.com

S.V. Banner: www.pressbanner.com