(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

policy review ordered

Public school board stands behind Diversity Week decision

Mar 11, 2021 | 3:33 PM

The board of trustees for Red Deer Public Schools will not be reconsidering its decision regarding Pride Week.

Board Chair Nicole Buchanan said Wednesday the board voted against Trustee Dianne Macaulay’s Pride Week motion last month in favour of having a district-wide Diversity Week with the understanding that they are “Open to All, recognizing our division must be respectful and supportive of each diverse group and individual.”

“Since then, the board has received and appreciated many and a wide range of comments and opinions on the decisions. The decisions have also been part of discussions at school council and city-wide school council meetings,” Buchanan said in a statement.

The decision led to widespread criticism of the board, including from a former teacher in the district who helped create Alberta’s first Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at Lindsay Thurber, and three Red Deer-based LGBTQ+ organizations. The sidewalk outside Red Deer Public Schools’ head office was also the scene for several protests against the decision this past week.

Some critics of the decision met with trustees during an in-camera (private) session at Wednesday’s board meeting. Afterward, the division released its statement stating it had, “reaffirmed its unequivocal support and commitment to LGBTQ+ students, staff and families.”

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Shannon Humphrey, board member and past chair of Central Alberta Pride Society, says the board is not only sending the opposite message, it’s completely missing the point of what Pride represents.

“This is a failure of the trustees to recognize students who identify as sexually and gender-diverse as valid humans. The message being sent, regardless of intent, is that those students are not worthy of being celebrated, recognized or uplifted,” Humphrey says.

“Pride is a celebration of sexuality, and regardless of what people want to think, being straight is also sexuality and being cisgender is also a gender. What’s being missed here is that Pride Week is a celebration of all people, of all gender expressions, all sexual identities, and it’s an all-encompassing celebration which includes allies.”

Humphrey says Pride Week is a great opportunity for education pieces to help people feel supported and heard.

“This is why we have things like Orange Shirt Day, International Women’s Day, and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. These are different pieces of peoples’ identities that are celebrated for different reasons, in part because there’s a history of oppression and abuse and a darker side of history that people are very uncomfortable acknowledging.”

Humphrey says it’s disappointing overall but encourages students who are passionate enough to take the school division up on its statement that the current Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) policy allows for students to organize Pride-related events in their own school.

Humphrey believes Wednesday’s talks with board members should’ve been done during the open session, adding it was peculiar how board members didn’t ask any questions following their presentation. They also agree it may have been more prudent to not make such a statement on the same day as the meetings, instead taking some time to think about what they’d heard.

“It feels like their decision was made even before hearing from us,” says Humphrey.

The Red Deer Public Schools board of trustees has directed Superintendent Chad Erickson to undertake a review of its SOGI policy and report back to the board.

It isn’t clear what specifically will be reviewed, but Buchanan says the board’s intention is to ensure it’s highly responsive to the challenges and opportunities of the LGBTQ+ community within school communities.

Erickson is also tasked with implementing Diversity Week, as per the board’s direction.

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