Schools may add to harassment ban
SEXUAL ORIENTATION:Board to consider additions to district's policy.

By Anne Marie Tavella, Anchorage Daily News

Students would be protected from harassment or discrimination over their sexual orientation under a new policy Anchorage School District officials hope to adopt.

The policy change is scheduled to be heard Monday by the Anchorage School Board. Peggy Robinson, School Board president, said the time has come to add sexual orientation to the policy. She said students have used its absence in the student handbook to justify harassing other students.

"By not listing sexual orientation it gives the message to some people that it's OK," she said.

The district already has an overall harassment policy, but it additionally bars harassment on specific grounds -- race, gender, national origin, age, religion, and physical or mental condition. Because the proposal will change district policy, the School Board will vote on it twice. If it passes the first time Monday, the second reading will be on June 25.

Harassment of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered students or students who are simply perceived as not heterosexual has become common in schools, Robinson said. Other School Board members have told her they support the measure, she said.

The policy change was proposed by a unanimous vote of the Student Advisory Board, which is made up of students from around the district.

Student adviser Hans Bernard said the students on the board thought the amendment was needed in light of violence in schools around the country, from Bethel to Colorado. Most of the perpetrators had been harassed and picked on by fellow students, and Bernard said officials hope to prevent that kind of situation from festering here.

"We want to create an environment that is safe and inviting for all students," he said.

The message is that people should be respectful of each other's differences, even if they don't agree with them, Bernard said.

The policy committee of the School Board approved the proposed change last week. All three board members present, Debbie Ossiander, Rita Holthouse and Robinson, said they're for it.

Ossiander said although she's generally supportive of the proposal, she would have approached the issue differently.

"I would rather just go really strong on no harassment at all," she said.

High school students encountered this week generally supported the idea, though they weren't so sure about the way the board planned to implement it.

Pamela Ricketts, a sophomore at Dimond High School, said harassment is a reality for some students.

"If a guy's gay, or whatever, they end up calling him a fag," Ricketts said. "People I know who are (bisexual) get teased."

Jason Moore, a Dimond junior, said the policy should be amended because sexual orientation harassment is no different than harassment because of race. "It should be treated like any other discrimination."

He also said context of the harassment should be a factor, for example whether someone is joking with friends or trying to be malicious.

District policy doesn't set out specific penalties for harassment or discrimination. Penalties vary, ranging from work detail to suspension or even expulsion, depending on the seriousness of the offense.

Jokes are not ignored or taken lightly, Robinson said. "Jokes can hurt people just as badly as when someone isn't joking at all."

Whyatt Zogas, a sophomore at East High School, said harassing people isn't right, but creating a new policy will not change students' behavior.

"I agree with their motives, but maybe not their methods," Zogas said.

Valerie Applin, a senior at SAVE High School, agreed and added that officials should focus more on support groups and talking to students, instead of worrying about policies.

Robinson said the policy will be effective.

The change will make it clear that sexual orientation harassment is not acceptable, in school and in society, Robinson said.

She related it to the racial discrimination in the '60s and sexual harassment in the '70s and '80s. Although these problems have not disappeared, Robinson said awareness has helped to curb tolerance of them.

"Attitudes and what is socially accepted changes over time," she said.

Third quarter reports show one expulsion and 34 suspensions of high school students and 50 middle school suspensions for harassment, she said.

"Harassment of all kinds is a problem in the schools and students are being disciplined," Robinson said.

Superintendent Carol Comeau said district policy should no longer be silent in regards to harassment for sexual orientation. "We're looking at it truly as a school safety issue," Comeau said.

She said this change will make the rules clear for everyone, staff and students.

"Some staff -- say a teacher sees someone yelling 'You fag.' They don't know what to do about it."

Last year, the Matanuska Susitna Valley School District School Board passed a nearly identical policy.

Comeau also said employee contracts with the district already include language saying it's not OK to harass someone based on sexual orientation.

The Alaska teachers code of conduct also includes such language. The new policy would be added to the student handbook.

Issues involving sexual orientation have a history of controversy in Anchorage. In the 1970s attempts to include sexual orientation in the city's equal rights ordinance met strong opposition. A 1993 proposal to make it illegal for the city to discriminate against workers for their sexual orientation also failed.

During a press conference Wednesday, Mayor George Wuerch said his administration has an overall policy protecting all employees from discrimination or harassment.

Although that policy protects citizens from any type of discrimination, city law is limited to race, sex, religion, marital status and disability.

Daily News reporter Rosemary Shinohara contributed to this report. Reporter Anne Marie Tavella can be reached at atavella@adn.com.

Return to P.E.R.S.O.N. Project Home Page