Co-optation and bureaucratization are great strategies for squashing attempts to create social change. There are some kids in South Carolina who are facing exactly that problem right now. They fought for and won the right to have a GSA in their school (the Irmo High School principal announced his resignation last month after the district ruled that the GSA must be allowed) but their victory might have some unintended and negative consequences.

The school board for District 5 of Lexington and Richmond Counties is now considering new rules regulating "student-initiated noncurricular clubs" that will "allow" GSAs but make them difficult to form and will hinder their effectiveness.

What do the rules require? Here is a PDF file containing the proposed policy, but briefly, and quoting from the "Schools" section of the Get Busy Get Equal project of the ACLU,

The proposal would create a complicated and legally questionable new structure for how the district treats clubs by attempting to distinguish between “school-sponsored” and “non-curricular” clubs. The new policy would also require students to get signed parental permission forms for any clubs they want to join.

The requirement of parental permission is especially problematic for LGBT students and their allies who may not be out to their parents or who may be facing anti-LGBT sentiments at home, one reason that GSAs are so important to teens!

Another problematic rule is the forbidding of any school employee from participating or guiding the meetings, and the forbidding of any outside organization from doing the same. While this does mean that no school employee can interfere with the meetings, it also means that LGBT teens and their allies will have a very difficult time using their GSA as a place to get guidance from supportive adults.

It is also difficult to see how the school is going to designate some clubs as school-sponsored and others as student-initiated and noncurricular in a way that is fair and sensible.

The students need your help to prevent these new rules from being adopted. The school board will meet to consider many items, including these new rules, on June 23. That's just 10 days from now. They are inviting public comment. You know there will be vocal supporters of the new rules. We need to be vocal in our support of these students.

Please email or write to the school board members of District Five of Richmond and Lexington Counties using the contact information below and let them know that these rules will harm the teens they care about. If you live in South Carolina your voice is especially important, but all the support we can offer is useful. Your letter needn't be long. It just needs to clearly explain that you oppose the rules and why. Sample letters and talking points can be found on the Get Busy Get Equal Page.

Here is a list of the school board members and their email addresses, again from the Get Busy Get Equal page dedicated to this issue:

Paula Hite
Chairperson, District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties
410 Clearview Drive
Columbia SC 29212
pahite@lex5.k12.sc.us

Ellen Baumgardner
Board Member, District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties
229 Woodwinds West Drive
Columbia SC 29212
ebaumgar@lex5.k12.sc.us

Roberta Ferrell
Secretary, District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties
115 Press Lindler Road
Columbia SC 29212
rferrell@lex5.k12.sc.us

Robert Gantt
Board Member, District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties
1213 Old Tamah Road
Irmo SC 29063
rgantt@lex5.k12.sc.us

Carol Sloop
Board Member, District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties
5 Old Farm Lane
Irmo SC 29063
csloop@lex5.k12.sc.us

Ed White
Board Member, District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties
327 Steeple Crest North
Irmo SC 29063
ewhite@lex5.k12.sc.us

Remember that letters must arrive before the June 23rd meeting to be considered. The ACLU/GBGE folks also ask that you send a copy of your letter to the Chief Instructional Services Officer and the school board’s attorney:

Dr. Lee Bollman
Chief Instructional Services Officer
District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties
1020 Dutch Fork Rd.
lrmo, SC 29063
LBollman@lex5.k12.sc.us

Andrea E. White
Duff, White & Turner, LLC
P.O. Box 1486
Columbia, SC 29202
awhite@ddtwb.com

__________________________

...because public space really matters!

Elizabeth

Technorati Tags: heterosexism, schools, sex, homophobia, sexuality, GSAs

__________________________

...because public space really matters!

Elizabeth