Gay-straight alliances might be able to meet as clubs in Salt Lake high schools under a policy proposal the school board is mulling, some board members and their attorney have indicated.
"We have no choice any longer," said Salt Lake City Board of Education member Cliff Higbee, who has opposed reopening the clubs issue and allowing gay-straight alliances to meet as school clubs. "I think we're caught in a very difficult situation with the fact the (courts) do not allow us to choose which clubs can or cannot meet. . . . We must treat all clubs the same."
The proposed policy would allow non-curriculum clubs back into schools. The Salt Lake City Board of Education will discuss the matter Tuesday.
This is not unfamiliar territory for the board. Only this time around, it is looking back on student protests, national media attention, lawsuits and $175,000 in taxpayer-funded court costs.
"It seems like five years ago the board made a wrong decision and five years later they're choosing one of the options . . . that was on the docket at that time," said Camille Lee, East High teacher and community adviser for the East gay-straight alliance. "They've come full circle."
The issue began in 1995 when a group of East High students asked to form a gay-straight alliance like those that have cropped up nationwide. It erupted when the board voted to ban all non-curriculum clubs, and culminated in two lawsuits. One judge upheld the clubs policy; another last spring issued an injunction allowing one club, People Respecting Important Social Movements (PRISM), to meet until the second lawsuit is resolved.
But the Division of Risk Management, the state's insurance agency, said it will not pay for the school board to appeal the injunction because damages are not involved. It already has spent $174,500 defending the club policy in court, according to a report given to the school district. In contrast, plaintiffs' attorneys are seeking nearly $300,000 in fees.
Risk management's move was a turning point for board President Kathy Black. "For me, it was a decision of do I take money out of the classroom to pay for the lawsuit or do we revisit the policy."
Now, a new policy is before the board. Members say they want to allow more chances for student involvement. If the non-curricular club ban is lifted, the federal Equal Access Act ensures that just about any student-initiated club can meet.
"It seems they're really trying to return to a different time when they were focusing more on students and education in general and away from the political side of education," said East High graduate Ivy Fox, a plaintiff in the resolved lawsuit challenging the clubs policy. "We've seen a downward spiral (of school spirit and involvement) since clubs were stopped."
The proposed policy would set up two types of clubs: curriculum-related, or "school clubs," and non-curriculum clubs, or "student clubs."
School clubs would include elected groups, such as class officers, and groups governed by the Utah High School Activities Association. Student clubs would be student-initiated and not sponsored by the school or district.
All clubs would have equal access to school media — a second proposal limiting media access for students was pulled from the table.
But only school clubs would receive school-sponsored fund-raising rights; student clubs would have to inform potential donors in writing that the club is not school-sponsored. School clubs also may receive school financial support and priority over student clubs in booking facilities.
No parents or students have spoken against having more school clubs. But there are concerns.
American Civil Liberties Union legal director Stephen Clark fears language allowing clubs to be denied if they advocate sexual activity outside marriage could be used to unlawfully bar the gay-straight alliance from meeting. He stresses students are not "learning the intricacies of sex" in the alliance.
School board attorney John Robson appears to agree.
"I hate to speak in hypotheticals because I don't have a gay-straight alliance application in front of me," he said. "If the purpose of a club were to talk about equal rights for gays and lesbians and community acceptance of gays and lesbians, that would certainly fall within the definitions of what is a non-curriculum club" under the proposed policy.
Salt Lake Youth City Government last week questioned language allowing administrators to change a club name if it "implies inappropriate association with outside organizations or groups."
"Throughout the policy there is a vague language that seems to target clubs whose ideas some may disagree with," the group said in a letter to the board. "The district must set up clear terms to guide administrators and protect clubs from potential discrimination."
There's another sticking point that could bring on a legal fight.
The policy states school clubs could "not (be) viewed from a limited viewpoint or perspective." Attorney Robson says a women's history club or even the PRISM club allowed by federal court injunction likely would not qualify as curriculum clubs under these proposals.
Some also don't like the idea of treating school and student clubs differently.
"It seems to me that they're still trying to find ways to manipulate the policies and the law in order not to treat all kids the same," Lee said. "I see this as putting disenfranchised students in a second-class status."
But board member Higbee says student clubs would be about as disenfranchised as 15-year-olds are by Utah's driving age restrictions.
It's unclear whether gay-straight alliances will apply for club status. Two West students say the question will be discussed when their alliance meets when school starts.
"Gay students need a place where they can feel accepted," alliance leader and West senior Emily Knaphus said. "In normal, everyday school life, that doesn't happen."
Board member Karen Derrick hopes the group applies to become a club.
"I've had an awfully long time to think about it, and we've had four years to try (the original policy). It didn't work the way I hoped it would," said Derrick, who voted for the non-curricular clubs ban. "And I truly don't know if this will resolve the lawsuit or those issues that the kids are concerned with in the (gay straight alliance). But I feel that this is a livable compromise."
E-MAIL: jtcook@desnews.com
