The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project urges readers to write or call in support of this policy
AND ALSO TO CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND ASK THAT THEY SET UP TRAININGS FOR ALL THE SUPERINTENDENTS, PRINCIPALS, AND SCHOOL BOARDS IN IOWA ON LGBT ISSUES.
Office of the Director
Iowa Department of Education
Grimes State Office Building
Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0146
Phone: 515-281-5294
FAX: 515-242-5988

DES MOINES REGISTER, November 4, 1998
Box 957,Des Moines, Ia., 50304
(Fax 515-286-2511 ) (E-MAIL: letters@news.dmreg.com)

VALLEY BACKS OFF ON CLUBS
HIGH SCHOOL WILL LET ALL PICTURED NOW
THAT'S ALL WE WANTED SAYS A SENIOR WHO WORKS ON THE YEARBOOK'S CLUB SECTION.

By Kellye Carter, Register Staff Writer

After a boycott by students, Valley High School administrators have agreed to allow such clubs as the new Gay/Straight Alliance, Young Republicans, Young Democrats and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to be pictured in the school yearbook.

Layla Hilton, a senior who works on the West Des Moines school's yearbook club section, said until the recent boycott the administrators didn't seem interested in talking about their effort to exclude certain clubs from Tiger Tales, even those that had been included before.

"That's all we wanted," said Hilton, who also is a member of one of the excluded clubs. "We were saying 'We need to talk.'"

Officials are required by the federal Equal Access law to allow such groups to meet before or after school, but they are not school-sanctioned, Principal Robert Brooks said last month. He also said that any group involved in politics, religion or controversy couldn't appear in the yearbook.

Valley has about 40 clubs, Hilton said, and most members skipped their group's scheduled photograph Oct. 14. The professional photographer left early and photos have been rescheduled for early December.

Since the boycott three weeks ago, students and administrators have created criteria for defining school clubs. They also agree that the yearbook staff has the final say on which clubs are pictured.

The criteria addressed administrators' concerns that a group such as the Ku Klux Klan could say it was a Valley club and be included, Hilton said.

Associate Principal Jim O'Dea said administrators try to involve students in decisions, but in this case had little time to do so after being asked by the yearbook staff for a clarification on school policy.

"The students are learning that they need to give the administration some lead time on things," he said.

Missy Rosberg, president of Valley's Fellowship of Christian Athletes, said she was upset about her group's possible exclusion after it had been included in Tiger Tales for several years.

"I think it's good that our students made a statement," said Rosberg, a junior who didn't participate in the boycott. "I think that it's neat that we could actually get our point across... but they didn't really change anything because all the clubs are still in."

Reporter Kellye Carter can be reached at carterk@news.dmreg.com or (515) 284-8501.

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