Subdued call for bullying policy in St. Charles schools
The predicted storm of 300 students and alumni at Monday night's St. Charles Unit District 303 school board meeting turned into more of a light sprinkle.
About 40 students and their parents turned out to ask for a change in district's bullying policy. The idea is to prevent a repeat of last month's controversy where a few students at St. Charles North High School wore controversial T-shirts during an anti-bullying week.
The shirts displayed a biblical passage some interpreted as advocating death for homosexuals. On Monday, students wore and distributed shirts with the logo “Love + Pride” in hopes of spreading a new message.
Montana Zaccagnini was one of three students who called on the board to identify the shirts as a form of bullying. Zaccagnini said students can look back on the week as an event that sparked conversation everyone learned from.
“If not in school or at home or out in the community, where will students learn about these issues and how they can deeply affect someone?” she said. “I am very proud of all the allies that stepped out this week. It isn't about religion or what color your hair is. It's about human compassion and creating a generation of adults that can be themselves without harassment.”
Alex Furlin summed up the students' concern about the district seemingly responding to the shirts in conflicting manners throughout the week. They called for a policy that would provide staff members with a prompt plan of action if shirts with any similarly controversial messages appeared in classrooms in the future.
“If (the shirts) carried a message against black students or Jewish students, this never would have happened,” Furlin said. “Something should be about that.”
The district already seemed to be dedicated to doing something about it. Turnout at the meeting may have been cut by Superintendent Don Schlomann meeting with several students and suggesting a series of private meetings with them to find a solution. That resulted in a couple students from St. Charles East High School suggesting on a Facebook page that students should avoid a public display Monday night in favor of working discretely with the district.
Either way, Schlomann said he's interested in student input on the harassment policy.
“We'll be coming around and sitting down with students and talking with them about the quality of the schools around them,” Schlomann said. “We care deeply about the quality of life you have at your schools. There's no doubt for all of us that we can improve.”
After the meeting, Schlomann said there's no easy way to toe the line between freedom of speech and harassment. As a result, the district may have stumbled through the shirt saga last month.
“We may have erred on a side that might have felt uncomfortable to people.” Schlomann said. “This is about how we feel about each other and how we treat each other. I don't see this as a legal debate as much as a moral debate.”
Any changes to district policies must receive a public vote by the school board.