Saline school board expected to vote on non-discrimination policy Oct. 12
A decision on a controversial language change in the Saline school district's non-discrimination policy is still several weeks away.
The Saline school board held a special policy committee meeting tonight to discuss the issue, and the committee locked 2-2 on a vote to include the draft policy on the agenda for the board's Sept. 28 meeting.
Because it didn't pass with a majority, the draft of the non-discrimination policy will be up for discussion at the next full board meeting, but won't be an action item.
The 2-2 vote was split between board trustees Lisa Slawson and Amy Cattell, who favored including the policy on the agenda next week, and Chuck Lesch and Paul Hynek, who voted against it. Board President David Friese and Superintendent Scot Graden were exempt from voting.
Graden read a first draft of the policy, which includes the words “sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression,” along with the characteristics of sex, race, color, national origin, religion, height, weight, marital status, handicap, age and disability that can't be used to discriminate against students.
Those who favor the policy change say the board needs to take a stand against discrimination based on sexual orientation, while those opposed say the district's anti-bullying policy already provides protection to students.
At the next full board meeting on Sept. 28, board members will hear a reading of the draft discrimination policy, and are expected to vote to include it on their next agenda on Oct. 12.
Tara Cavanaugh is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530. Find more Saline news on our Saline page.
Comments
chubabuba
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 11:53 a.m.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7220896.html
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball
Fri, Sep 24, 2010 : 8:06 a.m.
All Bullying is covered by the current SAS rule.. One thing is certain however, as the National Gay Agenda forces itself into schools - more Kids will leave public schools for private schools or home schooling. That is just a fact.
A2CarGuy
Thu, Sep 23, 2010 : 9:43 a.m.
This is embarrassing. The bullying rules also protect against bulling on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, religion, height, weight, marital status, handicap, age, or disability. So why are all of those spelled out in the anti-discrimination policy? If there is a down-side to including any group in this policy, then why don't we remove the others from the list, too? The only reason not to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression on the list is because it would add protection for these groups, and a vocal minority of the population doesn't think these groups deserve protection. Good for Ms. Slawson and Ms. Cattell for standing up to those who want to maintain the ability to discriminate.
stunhsif
Wed, Sep 22, 2010 : 9:23 p.m.
Vote no, all the kids are protected under the bullying portion of this rule!
SMAIVE
Wed, Sep 22, 2010 : 5:48 a.m.
Interesting, the vote itself aligned based on gender. Hmm, what's the proper word: "fear", "phobia", "ignorance".