Betsy Cleary says she first became concerned when her 13-year-old daughter was “quite upset” upon leaving a class she usually enjoyed.

After picking up her daughter from her leadership class at Goleta Valley Junior High School in November, Cleary learned she was upset over worksheets she said she was forced to complete during a presentation. The Just Communities Central Coast group was presenting a three-day course to the leadership class at the invitation of teacher Christine Shaw.

“The aim of the presentation series was to provide students with equity-related information to help student leaders foster a safe, respectful and equitable school environment for all students,” according to the nonprofit organization’s statement of objective for the course.

Several of the presentation topics listed were definitions related to sexual orientation, heterosexism and homophobia, as well as topics such as hate crimes against youths and how to keep the campus a safe environment. (Click here for a PDF of Just Communities Central Coast’s course overview for its Goleta Valley Junior High presentation. Click here for a PDF of the Peer Leadership Course book prepared by Just Communities Central Coast.)

Cleary wondered why she hadn’t been told in advance about the subject matter.

According to Santa Barbara School Board Policy and Administrative Regulations, presentations of “controversial issues” require that guest speakers’ materials be reviewed by the school’s principal. Parents were to be notified so they could review the subject matter in advance. Neither had been done by Shaw.

“I felt very violated as a mom,” Cleary told Noozhawk last week.

It wasn’t just the lack of disclosure from Shaw. Cleary said she also takes issue with the subject matter of the course.

In particular, one activity included a worksheet called “act like a man” and “act like a woman.” Students are asked to list names and physical pressures of each gender, in addition to answering “What’s hard about being in this box all the time?” and “What qualities help us resist the pressures to be in the box?”

“What happened in that classroom was absolutely wrong,” Cleary said. “They didn’t just say ‘This is why you might be this way.’ They said ‘This is why you might be and let’s explore that.’

“They said ‘shut your eyes and visualize where society has made you feel like a girl … because you may be transsexual or bisexual. To open up that kind of a door … what are they thinking?” she asked.

“Education is what it’s supposed to be about, but it overstepped that boundary into indoctrination.”

Cleary contends that if a more conservative group with the same methodology as Just Communities had tried to convey its message at the school, “it would be front page of the newspaper and (spark) numerous lawsuits.”

But Just Communities maintains that all of the material used in the presentation conforms with educational standards for seventh- and eighth-graders and is approved by the state Department of Education.

“A number of the exercises we do are adapted from national groups all across the country that are standard with this age group,” said Jarrod Schwartz, executive director of Just Communities.

“We got invited in because junior highers are talking about this, often in ways that aren’t the most helpful,” he said.

Just Communities program manager Alena Marie, who helped give the group’s presentation, said the “Act like a woman and man” activities are “very widely used.”

“The purpose is to explore what kind of pressure that boys and girls have to fit in with the ideal,” she said. “Often, those things put together produce a very unrealistic goal.”

Marie said the kids in the classroom had been responsive to the subject matter.

“This group of students was fantastic,” she said. “There’s a reason that they’re in this leadership class.”

Santa Barbara School District spokeswoman Barbara Keyani said the district benefits from organizations like Just Communities, which provide “teachable moments through their guest presentations.”

“Unfortunately, in the case of the November 2009 Just Communities presentation at Goleta Valley Junior High School, that protocol was not followed,” said Keyani, who added that parents should have been notified of the content of the presentation and provided the opportunity to view the materials in advance.

“Apologies have been issued by the principal, given the circumstances of this situation, for not having followed appropriate protocols,” Keyani said.

Keyani said the incident served as a reminder that policies and regulations must be followed. Principal Veronica Rogers agreed.

“If there’s something that controversial or political or sensitive, that needs to come through the principal,” she said. “If I’m in doubt, I run that by the district.”

Rogers said she first found out that Shaw had not presented the material to her when a parent e-mailed her after the presentation. Shaw gave a similar presentation to the class last year, and also did not run the material through Rogers.

“It’s unfortunate because the message got lost” in the aftermath of the presentation, Rogers said, but she said she believes there was a “silver lining” to the situation. She met with Just Communities and a PTA president Monday to discuss the presentation and to come up with a checklist to make sure similar problems don’t arise in the future.

Rogers said she’s been able to use the incident as a teachable moment for other teachers to remind them to follow protocols. She’ll also be giving out an evaluation to the leadership class students, asking them what they’ve learned and what they still have questions about.

“There’s not an agenda here,” said Rogers, who emphasized that the crux of the program is about keeping the school environment safe for all students.

After last month’s workshop, the issue first popped up in the public realm when it appeared on the conservative CNSNews.com, which characterized the workshop as “pro-homosexual.” The Web site reported that when a student asked about Proposition 8, students were told their parents were prejudiced if they voted for the 2008 ballot measure restricting the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Schwartz said that at no time were students asked to identify their sexuality, or asked about Prop. 8, and Rogers said that neither the presenter or teacher asked the students to discuss the ballot measure. Click here for a PDF of Just Communities’ response to the CNSNews.com report.

Just Communities also insists that none of the students were forced to participate.

“They don’t have to ask any questions or participate, and I remind students of that throughout,” Marie said.

But Cleary said she felt few students in seventh and eighth grade would have the courage to walk out of the classroom in front of a whole group of peers, and that her daughter felt like she “wasn’t supposed to tell us about the subject matter,” she said.

“She was told that her best friend, a girlfriend, might be gay or lesbian or bisexual,” she said. Cleary said her daughter told her that “it makes me mad that someone would think that I am,” if the girls were seen walking arm in arm or the like.

The smaller class visits aren’t the focus of Just Communities’ work, and longer events, like an eight-day community leadership institute, is a more common example of the organization’s regular work.  Marie said the curriculum was tailored specifically for the leadership class.

According to Schwartz, allowing children to get up and leave the classroom was out of the realm of Just Communities, because the group relies on whatever norms are in place when the group arrives.

Shaw did not respond to Noozhawk’s request for comment.

Schwartz said the group encourages dialogue between the parents and the schools.

“The more communication that exists between the parents and schools, the better,” said Schwartz, who added that the group didn’t perceive the notification around topics of sexuality as any different than the other topics with which the group works, like race or social justice.

“In the future, we’re going to be sure to ask that parents have been notified and we’re going to do that around every issue,” he said.

Cleary’s daughter was called into the office last week to meet with her counselor to see if she felt comfortable in the Leadership class, said Rogers. “The counselor also let her
know if she ever felt uncomfortable in any class she could get a pass to see her counselor,” she said. 

Cleary said her daughter will still keep going to the leadership class because she really enjoys it.

Cleary said she has tried to keep their daughter separated from the fray. She said the family has broached the subject of all types of sexuality in their home before, and that the leadership presentation was not the first time their daughter had been privy to such subject matter.

“She comes from a very grounded place … If it had happen to a family, thank God it happened to ours,” she said. “We love the gay community … But there are some things that are really just wrong and we have to take a stand on that.”

Click here for a related Just Communities commentary.

— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com.