Grant to Gay-Straight Alliance
Group Sparks School Board Debate
January 15, 2004
When Newtown's Board of
Education receives a grant, the funds are usually
either state-approved and directed toward an academic
program or a monetary or gift donation from a private
or commercial sponsor. So the unusual nature of a
grant approved by the school board this week was sure
to spark discussion and, as it turns out, contention.
The board voted 4 to 2 on a $1,000 contract authorizing
Newtown High School's Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA)
continued participation in Public Broadcasting Service's
(PBS) Human Rights (HR) 101 project.
Inspired by the December 10, 1948, Universal Declaration
of Human Rights stating that all people are "born
free and equal in dignity and rights," PBS awarded
15 greater New York area schools with a $1,000 grant
for them to devise an instructive unit on human rights
issues.
Newtown High School was the only Connecticut applicant
approved for the program. Accompanied by their advisor,
social studies teacher Jan Brooks, the GSA traveled
to New York City last October 4 to present their project
idea to PBS's education center and the region's 14
other participants.
According to the PBS website, Newtown's GSA is "creating
a unit of study about the issues facing gay youth"
to ultimately enable all students "to understand
their own beliefs, fears, and intolerances."
When the contract was initially presented to the school
board during a regularly scheduled meeting December
12, Secretary Andrew Buzzi wanted more detail on what
approving the grant would entail. "This is a
contract between Newtown High School and an outside
party," Mr Buzzi said during the meeting. "I
want to know what exactly this is about."
Upon learning from Social Studies Department Chairman
Candi Dietter that the grant would allow students
to access PBS materials including a 55-minute Frontline
tape, Mr Buzzi expressed a desire to see the video
before making a decision.
The item was moved to the January 6 agenda. Having
viewed the tape, Attack on Gay America, Mr Buzzi learned
from Ms Brooks and Newtown High School Principal William
Manfredonia that the GSA was planning to use one 15-minute
segment from the tape.
Mr Buzzi wanted to know which segment would be used.
The decision was made to move the vote to 9 pm on
January 8 so that more information could be obtained.
By the January 8 meeting, board Chairman Elaine McClure,
Vice Chairman Lisa Schwartz, and Board member Paul
Mangiafico, in addition to Mr Buzzi, had all viewed
Attack on Gay America.
Mr Mangiafico expressed concern over the at-times
graphic content of the video, saying that it was inappropriate
for students, some as young as 14, to view.
Board members Tom Gissen and David Nanavaty, in contrast,
believed that the board's potential nonapproval of
the grant could send a message undermining the board's
trust in the professional competency of Newtown's
faculty.
Mr Gissen said he had not viewed the tape because
he did not believe it would be appropriate for him
to do as a board member. Expressing concerns about
the board potentially "micromanaging" issues,
he said, "We do not routinely look at every subscription
or book in our libraries."
Doing so, he continued, would border on censorship.
He relayed a story about a history teacher he had
growing up. "My teacher wasn't supposed to teach
us about 'Red' [Communist] China," he said, "but
my teacher did anyway because he said that you couldn't
teach history without Red China!"
He also referred to educational contentions over whether
schools should teach Catcher on the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
or Hitler's Mein Kampf because of their controversial
content.
"I believe we should teach [these materials]
because they can help us learn," said Mr Gissen.
"Otherwise, you end up with 'vanilla' [educational
content]."
Mr Buzzi said that his concern over the appropriateness
of GSA using Attack on Gay America in their project
was not at all relevant to his "utmost"
trust in Newtown's teachers' competence. "This
project is about human rights, civil rights,"
he said. "I just don't know if we are using the
best tools to impart that."
The board agreed that the grant was permissible under
board policy 3-303: Gifts, Bequests and Subsidies.
Ms McClure agreed that the issue was a sensitive one
and suggested that district school counselor Judith
Blanchard review all future potentially controversial
materials. Mr Mangiafico and Mr Buzzi expressed concern
over the long period it took for the board to gather
all relevant information to the grant.
Mr Buzzi questioned why the grant was not presented
to the board long before December 12; Mr Nanavaty
suggested that the "timeliness" factor was
irrelevant to the contract itself.
The grant challenged board members to examine how
it would handle similar potentially controversial
issues in the future.
Grant
Sparks School Board Debate
