PRLHS Human Rights Club dominates WBCSD discussion

PRIEST RIVER — The Human Rights Club at Priest River Lamanna High School remains under fire by community members after the December topic focused on “Men and LGBTQA.”

“This is not an LGBTQA club, it is a Human Rights Club — that was one topic, one month, one discussion,” said West Bonner County School District Trustee Bruce Hollett in defense of the club last week after a number of people expressed displeasure over the topic.

Several people initially came forward during the district’s November meeting with concerns that topics such as LGBTQA are not related to human rights, and also that there is no transparency with the club. During the Feb. 20 board meeting, community members again brought the issue before the board.

“The Human Rights Club was approved by the board in September and it was sold to the board as an open discussion of various heritages,” said Anne Wilder Chamberlain. “The December focus of LGBTQA and men was a cause of concern to me, because it is not a heritage. I want to attend the club because, even as presented as a Human Rights Club, I was concerned that it was a socialist indoctrination.”

WBCSD trustees approved the club during the September 2018 meeting. Former PRLHS science teacher Shannon Wilson started the club as its advisor, however she has since moved and no longer works at the school. During the September board meeting, Wilson said the mission of the club is to “inspire, educate and develop a program that reflects the culture of respect within our community as we learn about others.

Each monthly meeting focuses on different cultures or races, Wilson said, focusing on origin and stories of where people come from. Many of the topics are specific to ethnicity, such as Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin, as well as Middle Eastern and European. Topics also include “Men and LGBTQA,” as well as people with disabilities and women.

Chamberlain said she was not allowed to attend a club meeting because the identity of students with “alternative lifestyle choices would be compromised.”

Trustee Samuel “Ranger Rick” Hall said while the public should not be allowed to attend a student club, he and some of the parents were also denied a request to attend a meeting.

“We know it’s a community problem, we know you are unhappy with it,” Hall said, expressing his own displeasure at a club that does not allow parents or school board trustees to attend.

The remainder of the WBCSD trustees, however, said while they understand the concerns, they are not liable for the topics discussed for a variety of reasons, and that Hall had acted on his own — not at the behest of the school board — which therefore put him in the category of the general public.

Trustee Margaret Hall said she researched student clubs and equal access. The Equal Access Act, she said, covers First Amendment rights of high school students.

“First Amendments do not stop as you drive in (to a school),” she said. “... What we failed probably to do is decide whether this was a school-sponsored club, or a non-sponsored student club, non-instructional, non-curricular — that is actually covered by law that they can do that.”

Superintendent Paul Anselmo said the latter description is the Human Rights Club, as there are no district funds supporting it and the teacher and students were meeting on their own time.

Drew McLain, board vice chair, said as elected officials, school board members take an oath to uphold the Constitution. As the chief of police for Priest River, he said he takes that oath “very seriously,” agreeing with Hall that they can not violate the students’ First Amendment rights, or their right to “freely speak, write and publish on all subjects,” as per the Idaho Constitution.

“The moment you allow the government — we are a quasi-judicial board of government officials — the moment you let us tell you what you should say, there is a problem. I am not going to let these kids or adults or anybody else, I am not going to prevent them from having their right to say what they want.”

McLain asked Superintendent Paul Anselmo four questions: Is the club a required, mandatory class? Does it occur when students are on their own time? Does it occur when the teacher is on their own time? Is there a law that requires us to accept requests of this nature?

The club is not mandatory, it does occur when the students and teacher are on their own time — during the lunch hour — and the Equal Access Act does require school boards to accept clubs of that nature. Because of these factors, the students and their advisor can discuss whatever topics they choose during the club meetings.

Margaret Hall asked whether the board would want to consider requiring parental permission, which she said would have to include all school clubs, not just the Human Rights Club. McLain said with students in their mid- to late teens, parental permission should not be required as they should be able to decide whether or not they want to attend a club on their own time.

The Human Rights Club was a discussion-only item on the Feb. 20 agenda, so no formal action was taken by the board, though they did agree to look at the current policy for all school clubs and assess if there needs to be any modifications made in the future.

With no advisor, the club is not active at this time. Jennifer Anselmo, WBCSD business manager and board clerk, said some of the students have expressed interest in keeping it going, which would require finding a new advisor under the district’s policy.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.