Controversy continues around MSD LGBT clubs

The Marysville School Board opened discussion for whether parental consent should be required to join clubs, including LGBT-focused clubs, during their May 16 board meeting.

The board had proposed the new policy during their May 9 board meeting, which would require parental consent for kids to join non-curricular based clubs.

Katy Payne, a spokesperson for State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, said that the policy would be unprecedented in Washington state as far as their office can tell.

The policy came after controversy around ‘Safe Space’ clubs that were started in some Marysville elementary schools, which provide a before-school program for students who want a space to discuss LGBT issues.

Staff at a previous school board meeting said the club’s discussions would not be about sex, but helping students understand LGBT relationships and attraction in the same ways that they understand heterosexual relationships and attraction at their age.

The new board policy would require parental permission for students to join those clubs.

A second reading was held at the May 16 meeting, but no further action was scheduled or taken. A final decision may or may not be made at the board’s upcoming June 6 meeting.

During the recent board meeting local parents, community members and LGBT students and their allies came out to oppose or support the new requirement.

More than 30 speakers signed up for the meeting and public comment time was limited to one hour because of the large number of community members who wished to speak on the issue.

Parents and community members in support of the policy said it was a matter of parental rights and transparency.

Community member Melissa Shreve said the Marysville school’s goals and policies say they will promote transparency.

“All these policies reference parents active involvement,” she said.

She said it has not been unusual to involve parents in previous topics such as sex education.

“I am proud to say that I worked hard and came up with a policy to opt-in or opt-out with a written consent form,” a couple of decades ago, she said.

Community member Tim Thometz disagreed with those calling the policy inequitable.

“This policy is fair, reasonable and equitable,” he said, adding that opposing it “would diminish the rights of parents.”

Many argued that a parent’s rights are more important than the desires and potential mental health concerns of children.

“I have noticed an ill-concealed contempt at times for parents from the school administration, the former school board and the teachers union, who seem to believe that they know and still know what is best for our children,” said community member Ralph Dufresne.

Susan Kasch, a Marysville School District employee for 25 years and a foster parent and mother of four, said parents should retain absolute authority over a child’s choice of clubs.

“As a foster parent I have learned there are many things you can’t do without the permission of the biological parent. It didn’t matter if I agreed with the decision that was made on behalf of the child,” she said.

Opponents of the parental consent requirement argued that it would force children in unsupportive households to out themselves to potentially abusive parents.

James De Leon, the upcoming Marysville Getchell High School ASB President, said he came to speak on behalf of all students at his school.

“Do you realize the mental health costs of telling your parents that you are confused about your sexuality?” he asked. “In certain cases, they can become a black sheep, getting kicked out of their family.”

He pointed to statistics from the Trevor Project, a national nonprofit that supports LGBT youth, citing that about 40 percent of LGBT youth will attempt suicide before the age of 24.

“Let’s all work together to make our students feel safer and have a better mindset when it comes to sexuality,” he said.

June Robinson, state senator for the 38th Legislative District, which includes most of Marysville, and a mother, came to oppose the measure.

“My eldest child, whose story I have asked permission to share, was very challenging to raise. I think I was a good mom, but we struggled,” she said.

Robinson’s child came out as non-binary as an adult after years of dealing with depression, she said.

“If they had a space that they didn’t have to tell me where they were going, to learn that language and help them through that, I think our lives and their life would have been much better,” she said.

Daniel Brady, a Marysville resident and parent of a transgender child, said he believed the rights of LGBT children outweighed parental concerns in this matter.

“In my opinion, the hardest part of parenting is letting go of our children as they grow and decide for themselves their own path. My rights as a parent are not as important as raising healthy, autonomous human beings who feel accepted and loved,” he said.

Local parent and Marysville graduate Christina Pedersen was skeptical that parental rights were at the heart of the issue when most of the controversy seemed centered around controlling LGBT children.

“Policies that serve to alienate marginalized children who need the most support are not just a waste of time, they are morally reprehensible,” she said.

The policy received support from board members Connor Krebbs and Keira Atchley, who motioned to continue with the policy for elementary and middle schools, but not for high schools.

School board member Katie Jackson had motioned to remove the parental consent requirement altogether, but did not receive a second to support the motion.

Interim Superintendent Chris Pearson recommended the board table the discussion until they have time to discuss the issue with the school’s leadership team and the Washington State School Directors Association.

Of particular importance was whether the policy is legal.

“I do think we need to spend some time talking about the legal implications,” said Pearson, who suggested working with state officials to receive more guidance.

Jackson believes the policy would be discriminatory and potentially violate students' privacy rights.

“I have read and highlighted several points on a legal analysis on court opinions about the Equal Access Act which argues that parental consent policies are illegal,” she said.

Krebbs said during the meeting that he has met with a lawyer and believes that the policy will not be illegal.

“Myself and another board member talked to an attorney who agreed that parental consent was a good move for the district,” he said.

Katy Payne, the spokesperson for the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, also said that policy gives the appearance of targeting LGBT students.

“It’s important to make clear that, given the timing and sequence of events leading to this particular policy revision, the policy could be construed as discriminatory, even if the policy at hand seems neutral on its face and applies equally to everyone,” she wrote in an email to the district.

The Marysville School Board’s next meeting is scheduled for June 6, at 6 p.m., at the Marysville Service Center at 4220 80th St. NE, Marysville.