Source: Seattle Times and Seattle PI Big Blog

Hutch: Qblog, Qnews

About 80 people filled a Snoqualmie Valley School Board meeting Thursday night to voice concerns over the national event that is meant to call attention to the silence in which many gay students say they must lead their lives. Students at an estimated 5,000 schools around the country observe the day in silence to show support for gays and lesbians and the discrimination they face, according to the Web site www.dayofsilence.org.

Mount Si Principal Randy Taylor told the board that the day of silence was consistent with the school's mission for students to reach their full potential and to respect individual differences.

"The Day of Silence sends a powerful message that all students have a right to be respected," he said.

Snoqualmie Valley parents who organized the group, Coalition to Defend Education (CoDE), claimed there have been a string of incidents at the high school in which teachers injected their personal views into the classroom.

"School isn't intended to be a pulpit for anyone," Phillip Garding, vice president of CoDE, said before Thursday night's meeting.

Garding, who has four teenagers at Mount Si, told the Seattle Times that when the Day of Silence was observed two years ago, some teachers did not speak, but spent their class period writing on the blackboard or showing movies. He said some students observing the event didn't respond when called on.

Last year, he said, he kept his kids home rather than subject them to the "disruptive environment."

Mount Si junior Landon Wilson said at last night's meeting that he was slapped by another student during the Day of Silence two years ago for wearing a "straight pride" T-shirt. Last year, he said, he tried to stay neutral but was still criticized for not supporting the event.

"It's not a day when education takes place to the fullest extent," he said.

Kit McCormick, the school's adviser to the Gay-Straight Alliance, told the PI in January that the club will go ahead with planning for the April 25 event. She said two years ago, one teacher did not talk, but that last year all of them taught their classes as usual. She also characterized as "ludicrous" the idea that students were forced to participate or be labeled "anti-gay."

"Last year I saw a totally successful day in which 230 students participated. That's about five times the number in the GSA," she said.

The School Board meeting was the latest in the continuing fallout from a Martin Luther King Jr. Day assembly at Mount Si High School at which a prominent pastor with anti-gay views was invited to speak about his experiences in the civil-rights movement. One teacher booed the speaker, the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, who leads the Antioch Bible Church in Redmond. McCormick asked whether Hutcherson believed in equal rights for gays and lesbians.

Since then, Hutcherson, whose daughter attends the high school, has also denounced the school's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), calling it a "sex club," and urged parents and community members to oppose it and the Day of Silence.

Hutcherson called for the teachers who spoke up during the King Day assembly to be fired. The school district apologized to Hutcherson and the community for what it called their "outbursts." The district also reportedly disciplined the teachers.

In a letter about the assembly sent to parents in January, Taylor wrote: "For some students, the incident served to overshadow the speaker's message about equality. For others, it sparked discussion about tolerance, respect for others and civil rights."

Jacqueline Ferland, president of Mount Si High School's Gay-Straight Alliance, told the P-I in January that she was outraged by the administration's actions surrounding Hutcherson's visit, and the letter of apology principal Randy Taylor sent him.

"You can't throw teachers under the bus like that," the senior said. "The administration should not have allowed a biased speaker who is openly against gays at a public school. ... If you are a gay student, you could feel personally attacked."

Ferland, who has McCormick as an advanced placement British literature teacher and Gay-Straight Alliance adviser, said the school has openly bisexual students, and estimated more than two dozen classmates are not heterosexual in the school with more than 1,200 students.

"Many people would rather (the gay-straight alliance) not be here, but they don't try to bring it down or anything," she said. "It's been tough, but I think staying strong is the most important thing to do right now."

Full article: Education | Parents question Day of Silence at Mount Si High | Seattle Times Newspaper
Mount Si teacher still feels ripples from Hutcherson controversy | Seattle PI (2/1/08)