Be sure to Attend the School Board Meeting April 17, 2007.

Dear Friends,

"Show Up"!
You are needed.

Now is the time to stand up for our shared values. The Juneau School Board has been bombarded with written and oral testimony against the "Skills for a Healthy Life" Curriculum. The charge has been led by religiously restrictive parents and some like-minded intolerant supporters. They view this curriculum as "an attack on traditional marriage and the parental right to teach family values to our children." Further, they voice suspicions that there is "a secret plot to promote the gay agenda." Sound familiar?

There is an urgent need for more open-minded parents, educators, health professionals, PFLAG supporters, liberal church members and other concerned citizens to attend the School Board meeting on April 17, at 7:00 pm, in the JDHS Library. (Maybe shoot for 6:30 pm, to allow for parking and expected crowd.) On the Agenda is the Third Reading of a health curriculum that has been developed over a period of three years, with a great deal of staff, community and parental time and input. A vote to adopt the curriculum is scheduled for April 17. This vote was delayed a month by the turnout of 100 people at the Second Reading on March 20. For two hours, impassioned demands were made for the removal of "Sensitive Topics" from the curriculum because the curriculum interferes with "parent rights." They also insisted on advance notice to parents before any spontaneous discussion could take place at school. (As a result of a bullying incident or fights on the playground, for example.) The District already has an "opt out" policy. Arguments about when and how to provide that information to parents was also a bone of contention.

What is the "Skills for a Healthy Life" Curriculum all about? It is based on the National Health Education Standards. Areas identified are Social and Emotional Health, Safety and Prevention, Physical Health, Consumer and Environmental Health, Academic and Career Health. The "Sensitive Topics" in the Juneau School proposal are defined as Sex Education, Sexual Abuse and Family Configuration. These are outlined with a box in the text to make them easier to find in the Curriculum packet. Books and Community Resources are listed so that parents can be informed in advance of instruction. This would enable follow-up at home. Educational collaboration between school and home in encouraged by the administration, counseling and teaching staff.

For some children, this curriculum may be their only exposure to such health information. However, some parents consider themselves to be the ONLY appropriate resource for information on any sex-related topic. They want no discussion of Family Configuration, "Similarities and Differences" or anything related to gays. "Just teach respect for all," they say in one breath. And in the next breath they make reference to "deviant behavior" or "homosexuality is like pedophilia or having sex with a dog"! Some threatened to remove their kids from public school as a means of controlling their education. A few parents consider alcohol use and abuse to be a sensitive topic and oppose classroom teaching of that subject. Since both sexual abuse and minor consumption are crimes and are rampant in Juneau, students should not be allowed to "opt out." These are serious safety issues and ones that children could be confronted with in their own homes.

We have a public school system. What is in the best interest of all students governs policies and curriculum. These are not based on a religious foundation. The District has a non-discrimination policy that includes race, religion, disability and sexual orientation among groups to protect. Accommodating homophobia is not consistent with this policy. The members of the School Board have been subjected to intensive lobbying. A couple have been more accommodating to the pressure from objecting parents than seems reasonable. The public testimony was 60 - 2 at the last Board meeting. The Board needs to hear from the "other side" to lend justification to their voting the "Right Way."

Preparing a statement and presenting it in person would have the most impact. If the statement can be personalized based on your own experience, so much the better. Writing a letter and having someone else read it could also be a option. There's always email if there are constraints from doing any of the above. Copies of the Curriculum are available for review, if desired. They may be obtained from Kimberly Homme, Harborview School, basement office on the gym side. Also available at the School District Office, Secretary Marsha Ballard or online www.jsd.k12.ak.us link with skills for a healthy life.

If you have any questions, you can also call Dixie Hood at her home 789-2068 or leave a detailed message and your phone # at her 24 hr. counseling office voice mail # 586-2200. Dixie is the community member of the Curriculum Committee.

This document serves to provide information only to members of SEAGLA.