‘Has to simmer’: Paso Robles school board tables discussion about LGBTQ bullying policies
The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees tabled discussions on revising its policies around discrimination and harassment at its meeting Tuesday night after community outrage about proposed cuts to LGBTQ+-focused protections.
“I think this is an issue that has to simmer a little while in the community,” Board President Chris Arend said at the meeting.
The board was reviewing proposed changes to district policy that would have removed specific discrimination and harassment protections for LGBTQ+ students at schools in the North County district. General protections broadly prohibiting discriminatory harassment, intimidation or bullying would still be included, in accordance with state and federal law, in the revised version, should it have passed.
Several community members, including teachers and LGBTQ advocates, spoke at the meeting, voicing their concerns about the proposed revisions to the policy.
“Who does it hurt to have these protections in place?” asked Marcy Goodnow, Paso Robles High School director of theater arts. “Why is this the conversation that we’re having instead of, ‘What can we do to protect our students?’”
“It is clear that this board is willing to put the safety of our LGBTQI+ students at risk by taking away protections set into place with a 2020 nondiscrimination and harassment board policy,” Goodnow continued. “I want you all to know that I will continue protecting our students, even if you choose not to.”
Dusty Colyer-Worth, executive director of the Gala Pride & Diversity Center, said he was strongly opposed to the proposed revisions.
“While general blanket protections provided by using the bare minimum of the law for protections based on sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and gender expression, may seem sufficient for those that have never had to defend their right to exist in a space, a language is severely lacking for ensuring a safe environment for our LGBTQ+ youth, especially our trans and non binary youth,” he said at Tuesday’s meeting.
State Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, issued a statement Wednesday morning expressing his distress about the possible policy revisions up for consideration during the meeting.
“It is deeply troubling in the light of numerous instances of disrespect and bullying toward LGBTQ+ students that the school board would consider rolling back protections,” he said. “I want students to know that their openly gay state senator stands strongly with them. I would be happy to discuss with school administrators and board members how, as a society, that in the over 40 years since I came out of the closet publicly (and received many death threats) we can in fact do better and honor diversity.”
Other community members spoke at the meeting about their concerns about transgender students using sex-segregated bathrooms and locker rooms, even though such district policies were not up for revision during Tuesday’s meeting.
Paso Robles’ Director of Student Services Tom Harrington told The Tribune he has never had anyone complain to him about transgender students using the bathroom or locker room of their gender identity.
Harrington noted that the school district works to provide accommodations to any students who may be uncomfortable in any bathroom or locker room situations.
“This is not something that is new,” he added.
In 2013, Gov. Jerry Brown passed a state law, Assembly bill 1266, that requires students to be allowed to participate in sex-segregated school programs, activities and use facilities consistent with their gender identity without respect to the gender listed in a student’s records.
