San Gabriel Valley : School District Opts to Skip Gay Seminar
The West Covina Unified School District has rejected a proposal to send its middle school teachers to a Nov. 6 symposium because it will include a workshop on homosexuality.
The board voted 3 to 2 Tuesday not to allow district teachers to attend a regional conference at the Riverside Convention Center, which will feature 36 seminars--including one on gay issues--saying they believe teachers should not dispense information about sexual orientation.
“Issues of sexual preference are better left up to the parents,” said board chairman Mike Spence, adding that a 45-minute workshop is insufficient to train teachers how to talk to students about sexual orientation.
A similar conference was held at Edgewood Middle School in West Covina last year, but board members forced the teachers to remove a scheduled workshop dealing with sexual orientation. The West Covina Teacher’s Union fought back and filed a lawsuit alleging that the district infringed on the school teachers’ 1st Amendment rights. The case is scheduled to go to trial Nov. 27 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Union President Kim Breen criticized the board’s vote, saying: “They’re just doing what they think is popular.”
All three board members who voted for the decision are up for reelection Nov. 7.
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