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Robin Bohannan -----Original Message-----
From: Carl Bloom [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2004 2:31 PM To: Carl Bloom Subject: PLS PARTICIPATE: Health Curriculum at Risk ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTION REQUESTED: Please Write to Members of the
BVSD School Board
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Friends,
You probably received a message from me weeks ago
asking your support in writing letters to your local representatives expressing
your concern over House Bill 1375 which sought to ban the inclusion of sexual
orientation in health curriculum across the state. This bill eventually was
"watered down" to a point where it really only reinforce the existing
requirements of schools to inform parents of curriculum content
and communicate policies which allows them to opt their children out of any
content to which they are averse.
Though the outcome of this bill was much more
palatable than it's originally submitted intent, the battle over health
curriculum continues on a more local level. Here in the Boulder Valley School
District, a group of conservative parents have been pressuring the School Board
to either delete sexual orientation from the curriculum or add "conversion
therapy". Hopefully, you find this proposal as concerning as I do. This same
group of individuals who were responsible for prompting the creation of HB1375
are focusing their efforts on an upcoming opportunity for the School Board
to approve an updated and revised curriculum which would more clearly spell out
how sexual orientation would be addressed. You can access a copy of the revised
curriculum at: www.bvsd.k12.co.us.
The curriculum is set up in one document and
organized by grade level, so you'll see 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th in order.
Within each grade level, it's divided by the health topics in this order:
wellness; mental health and emotional wellness; violence awareness; substance
use, abuse and addiction; human growth and development and human sexuality;
diversity awareness; and injury prevention and safety. If you want to go
right to the sexuality pages, they are on pages 6, 15, 25, and 36.
Sexual orientation has been addressed in our local
school since the 80's. Any decision to either delete this content or add
conversion therapy would be a huge step backwards.
A number of us in the community have come together
to develop a three part strategy to address this issue:
Part 1 is focused on lining up community
members to speak at School Board meetings. The first of these meetings took
place on April 13th, with roughly a dozen people speaking in support of the
curriculum. Meetings will also take place on April 27, May11, and May 25 (the
night of the vote). If you are interested in speaking at one of these meetings,
please let me know and I will provide you the pertinent details.
Part 2 is focused on a letter writing/email
campaign. This is where we really could use your help. School Board members have
been receiving letters/email from community members on this issue, the majority
of which, unfortunately, oppose the inclusion of sexual orientation. It is
imperative that we let the school board know we find the alternate proposal
unacceptable and harmful to our students.
An overview of the issue and instructions for
writing to the Superintendant and School Board Members is attached. The easiest
way to send your communication is to write one email and include the Board
Members, Dr. Garcia (the Superintendant) and Katy Fleming (BVSD Health Education
Coordinator) all in the address field. Please provide your thoughts and comments
in a manner which reflects your perspetive as a GLBT or straight community
member, parent, child, educator, mental health professional, coporate or
government employee, etc. It is important for the Board to see that this is
a concern across the Boulder County community. It's not just "a gay and lesbian"
issue.
Part 3 of the strategy is to prompt a huge display
of interest and concern on this issue by cramming the meetings with our allies
and supporters. We're asking as many people as possible to attend the School
Board meetings on May 11 and 25. The School Board meetings are held at the
Education Center at 6500 East Arapahoe, Boulder. There are three main
entrances to the front of the building. The Board Room entrance is the one
on the far left front (east). Extra parking is available up the hill near
the Tech. Center. The meetings begin at 6pm.
Thanks for taking the time to read
this message. Please pass this request on to anyone you know who lives,
works, or has kids who attend schools in Boulder County in request of their
participation And PLEASE, take the time to support this effort. We can't afford
to sit back and assume we've got nothing to worry about.
Regards,
Carl
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