{Those who live within the Des Moines public school district
can call school board members requesting they reaffirm the current policy.
John Phoenix, President (H) 515-288-0759
Jacquie Easley (W) 515-245-2194
Jane Hein (H) 515-287-2700
Harold Sandahl (H) 515-277-3357
Liz Goodwin (H) 515-279-0703
Suzette Jensen (H) 515-266-7908
Laura Sands (H) 515-279-3424

Letters to school board members can come from all over & should be sent to: Board of Education, Central Campus, 1800 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50309 or FAXED to 515-242-7579. Please cc IAProject@aol.com or mona-shaw@uiowa.edu on your letters.}

THE DES MOINES REGISTER
(Metro Edition Only)
Box 957,Des Moines,Ia.,50304
FAX 515-286-2511, E-MAIL: letters@desmoine.gannett.com

Wednesday, April 24, 1996

Metro and Iowa News

By Kellye Carter, Register Staff Writer

Supporters of policies that protect gay Des Moines school employees and others from discrimination packed the school board meeting Tuesday.

Two Des Moines high school students, who launched the effort to keep the policies, presented a petition containing 5,850 supporter signatures.

The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, a non-partisan ecumenical political group, joined the students’ petition drive. Chairwoman Alicia Claypool said 16 community organizations also endorsed the petition. She presented separate letters of support signed by:

· Twenty-one business and community leaders, including David Hurd, former CEO of The Principal Financial Group; Fran Koontz, chairwoman of Des Moines Neighbors; and Evelyn Davis, co-chairwoman of Mid-City Vision Coalition.

· Twelve former Des Moines school board members.

· Seventy-one clergy.

The effort was a response to a 1,000 signature petition given to the board April 2 by Concerned Parents of Des Moines, a conservative Christian political action committee. That petition called for the words “sexual orientation” to be removed from the district’s employment policies.

The policies prohibit discrimination based on 10 factors, including sexual orientation, race and marital status.

STUDENTS INVOLVED

Kit Murray, a Roosevelt High School Junior and co-founder of Concerned Students of Des Moines, said opponents have argued that the policies protect pedophiles or others who want to harm children. But laws exist to protect children against molestation and other abuse, she said.

“This is in no way related to the current non-discrimination policy,” said Murray, who urged the board “to stand firm in the face of injustice and discrimination.:

Sara Dirks, a North High School junior and co-founder of Concerned Students, challenged board members weighing the political consequences of the issue to ask themselves when they would have taken public stands for the abolition of slavery or women’s suffrage or equal rights for African-Americans in the 1960s.

“The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Once said, ‘There comes a time when silence is betrayal,’” Dirks said. “Such a time is now.”

As is their custom, board members didn’t respond during the public forum. Most members have been reluctant to say where they stand on the issue.

“GREAT CONCERN”

Board member Harold Sandahl said in an interview before the meeting that he wants the board’s policy development subcommittee to look at the policies. As a member of that group, Sandahl has the authority to put the issue on its agenda.

“Obviously it’s an issue of great concern to a couple of different groups in the community,” he said.

Sandahl said he supports removing the words “sexual orientation” from the policies, but he said he doesn’t have a problem with homosexual teachers, if they’re qualified.

“This shouldn’t be perceived as an effort to get rid of them because we need to keep all the good teachers we can,” he said.

Laura Sands, chairwoman of the policy subcommittee and a supporter of the current policies, said the group has identified 22 issues that need to be addressed and would have to decide when to look at this one if Sandahl asks that it be added.

FEEDBACK:

* From Fenceberry@AOL.COM - Here is a report from a (teacher) friend who attended and spoke at the Des Moines School Board meeting....

"I just wanted to quickly let you know that the Open Forum of the Des Moines School Board meeting went beautifully. The board set up a monitor in the hallway, since the "voices of reason" packed out the board room, which seats around 60 people.

The chair of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa spoke first. Then two students who had started the counter-petition drive spoke eloquently and passionately about why the district's fairness policy in hiring should remain as is. They then presented the counter-petitions to the board. The "religious right" had gathered 1,000 signatures 2-3 weeks ago to remove "sexual orientation" from the fairness policy. There were 5,850 signatures on that petition (mostly from within Des Moines), and I think that "we" could have done even better.

Also, 21 prominent business and community leaders signed separate letters in support of the policy. Those were submitted to the board, too.

Two other letters were also presented in support of the policy. One was signed by 12 former members of the school board (almost all of the members that are still living, according to the chair of the Interfaith Alliance), and one was signed by 71 clergy.

AND the head of the city-wide PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) spoke and presented a resolution in support of the policy, worded in a way that stressed that our district has far more pressing concerns than this issue.

Finally I spoke.

The text of my speech was a story. It was, what I thought was, a humourous and satirical story about a well-loved teacher named "Mr. Jim Jutt, who was a third-grade teacher at "Granawalt School". (I, coincidentally, teach at Hanawalt School...AMAZING, isn't it?) I called the story "Mr. Jutt and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day", which is a spoof on the very popular children's book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."

After the meeting, the member of the board that the "right wing" elected, came up to me, shook my hand and said that I was "wonderful" and complemented me on my teaching style and effectiveness at Hanawalt. I do believe that was sincere, since I had his daughter last year, I still get postitive notes from his wife (who hopes--or hoped??--that I get their other three children), they bought lunch for me last week, and their daughter visits with me every day.

Even though he is still supportive of changing the policy, I was quite pleased with his quote in the "Des Moines Register", which said, "This shouldn't be perceived as an effort to get rid of them [queer teachers] because we need to keep all the good teachers we can."

On the TV, the leader of "Concerned Citizens" had a different spin than what I quoted in the message I previously sent to you. He also said that they weren't interested in firing anyone, they just wanted to help ensure that a lesbian and gay sensitive curriculum proposal doesn't come up again.

There will be a board committee meeting within the week where and when it will be decided if changing the policy should come up for a full vote to the board. There are three people on the committee. One would like to see it die (she's against removing the words anyway), the conservative member (and former classroom parent of mine) would like to see it come up for a vote (which is crucial to the "right-wing's" strategy on electing three candidates and gaining a majority), and one is waffling BIG TIME. Actually, four of the seven members of the board are waffling "big time" (although they were on record to be supportive last year--before the horrifying board election last September)."

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