Source: Qblog, Snoqualmie Valley Record

Hutch: Qblog, Qnews

School administrators have said the Day of Silence falls within students' right to free speech, and learning will not be interrupted.

According to the event website, the National Day of Silence, to be observed tomorrow at Mount Si and thousands of other schools around the country, "brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools." This year’s event will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression."

The event has come under fire at Mount Si over the past couple of months as parents and students -- following the lead of a local pastor -- have argued it creates tension at school, detracts from learning, and discourages some students from attending school that day.

Though school administrators encourage all students to go to class as normal, some students have told the school board and the Valley Record that they will not attend school on a day they consider unproductive and potentially unsafe.

Prior to the event, all participating students will be required to attend an informational meeting and sign a form agreeing to guidelines that include acknowledging that the event "is not a day to change people's minds - it is a day to be reflective and raise awareness." They're also instructed not to "call into question anyone's lack of participation in the day," as "people have many reasons to participate or not."

Students are encouraged to carry a pen a paper to communicate, and make prior arrangements with teachers to participate actively, though silently, in class.
However, "if a classroom situation requires speaking, students are expected to comply," Taylor wrote.

Students may pass out cards to explain their reason for not speaking, and are expected to seek help from teachers and administrators if they feel threatened.
This week, daily intercom announcements will remind students of procedures for reporting incidents.

"They need to do what they'd do on any other day and tell an adult," said Vice Principal Beth Castle.

Among other complaints, parents and students have said that in previous years, the non-verbal lesson plans of some participating teachers diminished the quality of their classes. This year, teachers will not participate, Principal Randy Taylor wrote in a letter to parents dated April 16 and posted on the school's Web site.

"As the day is designed as an event for students, teacher lesson plans and educational objectives are in no way put on hiatus," he wrote.

The Reverend Ken Hutcherson and his wife Pat are organizing a protest outside the school on Friday.

Hutcherson has been engaged in an ongoing battle with the school where his daughter is enrolled ever since a teacher there gently protested his pro-discrimination stance during a talk he gave for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The local chapter of GLSEN, a group that supports Day of Silence events, has said it will hold a press conference Friday afternoon, but does not plan an organized counter-demonstration.

A group called the Coalition to Defend Education (CoDE) formed in Snoqualmie Valley following school board debates about Hutcherson's treatment. The group claims that it hopes  to "restore neutrality to the classroom and school with an atmosphere free from bias and prejudice," according to its website.

Protesting Day of Silence events has become a significant part of the broad anti-gay agenda. Several expensive lawsuits have been filed against schools throughout the country to stop the observances. When a poster for the Mount Si's Gay-Straight Alliance appeared in a school hallway, Hutcherson declared to his church's "Prayer Warrior" mailing list that it meant "war."

CoDE members have said the Day of Silence violates district policy by occupying the entire school day over the entire school property; they point to Snoqualmie Valley School District policy that states, "Peaceful demonstrations are permissible, though they are to be held in designated places where they will present no hazards to persons or property and at designated times that will not disrupt classes or other school activities."

In a comment to Qblog on this site, someone who says he's a Mount Si student defended both Day of Silence and the response to Hutcherson that has caused so much debate at the school:

I am a student there and I am participating in the Day of Silence and I am straight. When Ken came to the school it was a chance for the controversy of Gay rights to be brought up at school and I believe that this is something that must be talked about and is the segregation of the present.

People think back on segregation and think of what a bad thing it was.... This has become out of hand with the reverend and he needs to learn about his blind spot, when he came he said that he was teaching tolerance to all but he is not even practicing what he is preaching.

He said that he was treated as almost 1/2 a human being, well how do you think the gays feel?

This is a good thing to happen. Controversy needs to happen in order for this to be talked about and be solved quicker.

Full article:  Group plans to protest at Mount Si High School | Snoqualmie Valley Record
Hutcherson plans protest of 'Day of Silence' at Mount Si | seaQwa's Qblog