Dp’s Anti-Discrimination Policy To Protect All Students

After seven months of debating protections for gay and lesbian students, the Deer Park School Board has struck a broad compromise: It wants to protect all students.

Suggested policy changes would prohibit discrimination based on “human differences,” which, loosely interpreted, could include everything from obesity to sexual orientation.

But gay activist Craig Peterson, who pushed for specific protection for homosexual students, questions the compromise. He fears the rural school district centered in a small, conservative town will shy away from the controversial subject of sexual orientation.

“I think it’s a way to skirt the issue,” said Peterson. “I’m glad they had the dialog but… I expected more.”

Peterson, a former Deer Park High student body president, pulled sexual orientation out of the closet and onto the school board agenda last fall. A Deer Park student had found the word “faggot” sprayed inside his locker, and Peterson, a member of the Spokane Human Rights Commission, thought his alma mater brushed off the issue.

He asked the board to approve district-wide sensitivity training and include “sexual orientation” in its anti-harassment policies.

An Olympia-based consultant suggested the board make the addition as well and the recommendation went to the school board March 19. The consultant recommended, among other things, deleting reference to “smear the queer,” listed as an inappropriate game in the Arcadia Elementary student handbook.

Nearby Mead School District’s anti-harassment policy doesn’t mention sexual orientation, but Spokane School District 81’s does.

At the March board meeting, the board heard residents’ complaints that the board was coddling an inappropriate lifestyle.

One resident, a local minister, has called homosexuality “an abomination” and said he was “sickened” that the board was considering extending protection to gay students.

The board, by a 3-2 vote, changed the wording from “sexual orientation” to “human differences.” Board members Bill Moore and Bob Peterson, father of Craig, voted against the change. A final vote on the policy is scheduled for the Wednesday board meeting.

The human-differences wording was copied from an “American School Board Journal” article about ways to avoid controversial public debates about sexual orientation.

Board president Mary Brown said the board didn’t want to leave any group out of the policy. She intends for gay and lesbian students to be protected from harassment.

“It had nothing to do with not wanting sexual orientation in it, but where does the list stop and where does the list end,” she said. “What group’s next?”

Others agree. “If they had pushed for (including) sexual orientation, I’d have pushed for obesity,” said board member Larry Barden. “The arguments you can make for that are the same as you could make for sexual orientation.”

Board member Moore, like Craig Peterson, fears the broad policy may be interpreted differently by teachers and principals.

“I wanted it spelled out specifically,” he said. “I don’t know how widespread harassment is for people who are perceived to be different, but if it’s spelled out, there aren’t any generalities (in enforcement).”

Superintendent Glenys Hill is checking with the state school board association to ensure “human differences” is legal but she says gay Deer Park students will be protected from harassment.

“The fear is that we would take a position and advocate,” said Hill. “I don’t think that’s the school’s place. People just want kids to be safe. I haven’t heard one comment (that) the people want to see harassment or discrimination based on sex orientation.”

Craig Peterson’s appeal for sensitivity training went largely unheeded. Hill was the only one to attended training, enrolling in a one-day seminar titled “Avoiding Liability for Sexual Harassment Under Title IX.”

She said the debate has been good for the district and community. Deer Park expects to double in size within 20 years and is beginning to struggle with the moral vagueness - sexual harassment, art censorship, Californian bashing - of the late 20th century.

“I’m not sorry it came up, because we’ve had some great discussions. As we are becoming more diverse, we just have to struggle through these issues,” said Hill. “We are evolving, as you could say.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Meeting scheduled A final vote on the suggested changes to the Deer Park non-discrimination policy is scheduled for April 16. Call 276-5051 for meeting time and location.