Ban on Gay-Straight School Club Debated

* On Feb. 10, the Orange Unified School District board voted unanimously to ban extracurricular clubs in grades K-8.

The rule, which went into effect immediately, banned such dangerous activities as organized donations of stuffed animals to Children’s Hospital of Orange County, penny drives for the Leukemia Society of America, the dangerous Pep Squad and the deplorable chess club.

The board should reverse the ban on K-8 clubs, which was made with such haste that no one even knew it was a possibility.

I would hope that when this board is up for reelection, the public will realize the importance of that vote. We have a chance to answer Trustee Martin Jacobson’s question, “If we’re far right of the community, why do we keep getting elected?”

I will be answering by voting him and the other unscrupulous board members out.

CHRISTOPHER KOONTZ

Orange

* You’ve got to hand it to the Orange school board: They’ve really mastered the ol’ Catch-22.

First, gay students couldn’t gather because they’d be an academic club and thus would “infringe on the school’s control of curriculum.” Imagine, a school board afraid that kids might learn something on their own.

The club’s members pointed out that they weren’t an academic club, and a judge rightly agreed with them.

So now the board is considering banning the club again--only this time, to make it look fair, they’ll ban all nonacademic clubs.

Apparently there’s no limit to the dishonesty they’ll indulge in to uphold morality in the schools.

JEREMY ANDERSON

Costa Mesa

* The Orange school board’s members have missed a wonderful opportunity to teach the ever-so-important message of tolerance to the student body.

Their failed attempt to ban the Gay-Straight Alliance from campus was a disgrace. However, their recent decision to require parental permission to attend club meetings attempts to strip teenagers of their opportunities to seek peer support for a variety of issues and activities.

The school board has demonstrated by these actions that it is a breeding ground for intolerance. In doing so, its members send a clear message to the parents and students that sexual orientation is grounds for discrimination.

I wonder what will be next.

BEN BRIGGS

Huntington Beach

* Any time the focus of the school becomes other than teaching curriculum, we lose ground in accomplishing what is most needed in our young people.

The focus of schools should be classroom teaching so that students have the skills to succeed in college and in life.

To focus on sexuality during these important years is a waste of energy and time.

Let students become involved in curriculum-based activities and clubs as a way of connecting with others.

LEE STARNES

Rancho Santa Margarita

* I would like to stand up and be counted as one of the silent majority who applaud the Orange Unified School District board’s decision to refrain from injecting sexual orientation as the basis for a school club.

The proposed Gay-Straight Alliance would do just that.

Heterosexuals do not have a club to promote their sexuality; homosexuals should not either.

Sexual preference should not be a part of the mission statement for any school clubs.

BILL CHAPMAN

Coto de Caza