Student clubs at issue

The Coeur d’Alene School District said Friday it will consider adopting a policy requiring students to get a parent’s permission before joining a club at school.

Mica Flats Grange, a fraternal agricultural organization, presented the proposed policy to the district and school board recently. Grange members passed a resolution expressing concern for the “health, safety and welfare of the pupils” and a desire to “decrease the liability of the school district.”

The discussion started after students formed a Gay-Straight Alliance club at Lake City High School last fall. The grange resolution, however, states that the policy is “content neutral” and does not discriminate based on viewpoint.

“We think it’s important to have parental consent,” said Martha Cook, the grange’s secretary. Parents want to know what their children are involved in, she added.

The district’s policy development process is lengthy. It includes a legal review, deliberations by two committees, a 30-day comment period in all district schools and input from the community when the policy comes before the board.

The district aims to have a policy proposal appear on the school board agenda before the end of spring, Superintendent Harry Amend said.

Both he and board chair Wanda Quinn acknowledged the need to balance the sometimes competing interests of students and their parents.

Quinn, who serves on one of the committees that will review the policy before it formally comes to the board, said enforcement will also be a challenge. Students often attend club meetings on a whim, she said; should they not be allowed in because they don’t have permission?

Likewise, educators know that if students are involved in the school and its activities, they’re less likely to get into trouble, Quinn said.

“It’s not a simple process” to develop a policy, Quinn said. “It takes a lot of thought and review.”

Coeur d’Alene isn’t the only district grappling with the issue. In Sandpoint, a Gay-Straight Alliance formed at the high school three weeks ago to the displeasure of some community members. Citizens asked the principal and board members to disband all student groups at the high school, but officials declined to do so.

The Mica Flats Grange hopes its proposal gains traction and leads to a statewide effort to enact parental permission policies in all public schools.

Georgia lawmakers this week voted for a slightly less stringent rule. The House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would require students to notify their parents before joining school clubs. The bill would also allow parents to block their children from joining clubs they do not approve of. A similar measure is pending in the Senate.

Gay rights advocates say the revised Georgia legislation will discourage students from joining gay organizations.