Anti-Gay Bullying besets a Southern California High School

Some friends at the conference just told me about this. In Paloma Valley High School, gay students are getting bullied from all sides, even by teachers.

In one instance, a Paloma Valley High School student alleged a teacher wrote an "S" on her hand and called her "a sinner." In another, a student group says it was barred from doing an activity for gay and lesbian history month, though an ethnic student group could. An openly gay senior says he was unfairly disciplined after a dispute with a classmate who he says harassed him. 

Teachers and students took their concerns to Paloma Valley administrators, the school board and the ACLU. District officials say they are addressing the complaints. 

"We take them very, very seriously," said Leslie Ventuleth, spokeswoman for the Perris Union High School District and its chief human resources officer. 

District officials have taken several steps to improve the climate at Paloma Valley, Ventuleth said. The school now has a Peer Leadership Uniting Students program, which encourages students to intervene if they see harassment or bullying. The school also held recent anti-bullying assemblies. 

District officials are considering more anti-bullying training for students and staff and working to expand programs to other district high schools, Ventuleth said. 

The "S" marking part is really bothering me. I hope that alleged incident is being addressed and dealt with immediately! If teachers are a part of this mess, they need to be fired!

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WATCH Long Island High School Students Rally for a Gay-Straight Alliance

More on the story is here

School Districts use Martin Luther King Holiday as a Snow Make-Up Day

Some school districts in Georgia and North Carolina have made the decision use Martin Luther King day as make up for a snow day. Many folks are not happy about this. 

Fannin and Gilmer counties in north Georgia and a school district in North Carolina are calling students to class on the federal holiday after school was wiped out for the week because of the epic snowstorm that paralyzed the state.

The superintendents from the districts said they had little choice to start making up for nine days missed because of the foul winter weather this school year. But civil rights leaders said the decision was an insult to King and shows disrespect for the holiday in his name.

"It's an opportunity for people, black and white, to reflect on what King's dream meant for blacks and whites," said Georgia State Conference NAACP President Edward DuBose. "And it's humiliating to hear that school districts want to take a snow day rather than to honor Dr. King's legacy."

They could have used a day out of Spring Break?


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Anti-Gay Remarks Spray Painted on High School Building

After a few students showed up at St. Charles North High School wearing 'Straight Pride' T-shirts, others students confronted the issue. But later on, the staff found anti-gay remarks spray painted on campus.


Here's more:

The vandalism follows last week's controversy of three students wearing "Straight Pride" shirts that quoted a Bible verse that referenced death as the punishment for homosexual behavior.

Other students came to school later in the week wearing similar shirts that omitted the Bible reference.

Blaney said it is not evident whether there is a correlation between the vandalism and shirts.

More than 150 Facebook users – presumably mostly North students – have said they will attend next month's Board of Education meeting to address the shirts and how the administration handled the situation. The student who created the event has said students want better plans in action for how to deal with such situations.

Coincidentally, the school board's Policy Committee on Thursday night discussed an amendment to its bullying policy that would forbid district employees and students from harassing or intimidating students based on their "gender-related identity or expression."

The proposed changes also prohibit harassment based on a student's "association with a person or group with one or more of the aforementioned actual or perceived characteristics or any other distinguishing characteristics."

Blaney said the changes would have been discussed regardless of the recent activities at North because the board is trying to more closely align its policies with the Illinois Association of School Boards.

 So more to come.

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