Tavares The decision by the Lake County School Board to rewrite its policies concerning student clubs has left many wondering if it has opened itself up to more lawsuits. Less than a month after settling a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union over the district’s refusal to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance at Carver Middle School, the School Board voted 4-1 to limit middle school clubs.
The board quickly voted at its May 13 meeting on policies for clubs at the elementary and high school levels. The policy for middle schools, however, was debated by members with several votes failing before the 4-1 decision was reached.
The limited policy left many people scratching their heads. It allows middle school students to create clubs, but they are limited to organizations that can “strengthen and promote critical thinking, business skills, athletic skills and performing arts.”
It is unclear whether the GSA club charter could meet those application requirements. Superintendent Susan Moxley, who approves the applications, has expressed her desire to keep GSAs out of middle schools. Not every member was pleased with the result, which affects approximately 9,500 students at 10 middle schools in the county. A final vote could occur in June.
“I am not willing to spend taxpayer dollars to continue to fight this,” said School Board Member Rosanne Brandeburg, the only vote against limiting middle school clubs. “It’s cost us thousands of dollars and we need to allow equal access.”
Brandeburg speculated during the board discussion that existing clubs besides the GSA, such as service clubs and religious/athletic clubs that don’t promote “skills,” would not meet the proposed standards for middle school clubs. Members in favor of the limited option talked of tweaking club names and charters to make them fit and argued about how to avoid a lawsuit.
“They are trying to handpick the clubs they want,” said Erica Silberstein, 37, mother of Bayli Silberstein, a bisexual Carver Middle School 8th-grader who has been fighting for a GSA at her school since November 2012. “They are leaving themselves to more legal action.”
The ACLU of Florida filed a lawsuit on May 1 on behalf of the younger Silberstein, claiming that the School Board, district superintendent and principal of Carver Middle School violated Silberstein’s rights under the federal Equal Access Act and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
A day later, the Board agreed to allow Silberstein to form the club for the remainder of the school year, which ends June 5. That decree says the club will be officially recognized and can meet on the same terms as any other club. Other portions of the lawsuit are still pending.
“I don’t understand why this has to be so complicated,” said Sherrie Aly, President of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in Lake County, who spoke before the board. “I don’t understand why the board is doing this when so many places have GSA with no issues.”
Before the May 13 meeting, School Board members had tentatively accepted a policy for middle schools, but quickly scrapped it. Discussion followed with subsequent failed votes on two policies, one would only allow school-sponsored clubs and one that would provide for an “opt out” provision that would allow a school’s Student Advisory Council to request approval to waive the charter requirements.
About a dozen members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lake County wore gold T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Standing on the Side of Love” and sat in the front row. A number of parents spoke to the board about the “gay agenda,” quoting from the Bible and telling members they would be “judged” on the decisions they made on the issue.
ACLU Attorney Daniel Tilley said the new policy appears to invite future litigation and that it violates both the Equal Access Act and the First Amendment. If the new middle school policy is approved and a student applies for a GSA chapter and is denied, the ACLU would consider future litigation.
“We would certainly argue that GSA falls into the category of critical thinking,” Tilley said. “These students are addressing the bullying and harassment that School Board members have failed to address.”
Earlier in the meeting, the School Board voted to allow elementary school students to participate in school-sponsored clubs with parental consent with no outside clubs permitted. They voted 4-1 to allow high school students to create clubs with the approval of the superintendant, who was the lone dissenting vote because she believed all policies should include parental consent.
Following the preliminary vote on May 13, the Board must advertise its proposed policies for 28 days before meeting for a final vote in late June. They could, at that time, vote on yet another option.
