We Passed! Brief version

In case anyone is following this blog and waiting to hear the news, we were approved by the district's board by a vote of 4-2. I have been swamped with life and projects and can't write about it now.  I will submit a much better post worthy of such news including more details and recordings.

:)

Supplies for New GSA Officers

While we are waiting for the signatures to approve the GSA, I have put together folders for our new (and first!) officers. The folders include copies of:
-Contact Info of all faculty advisors and officers and informative links
-Signed Constitution
-Articles of Association
-Bylaws
-Addendum
-Tips on running a GSA
-Basic Parliamentary Procedure and How to Facilitate a Meeting
-Top 10 GSA Meeting Ideas
-The high school's Rules Governing Clubs

The color black doesn't have any significance. That was all that was left of this style of folder at the store I was in. The back-to-school supplies were slim-pickings. Black is rather sophisticated, though, don't ya think?

Image Credit: racheal1505 dot deviantart dot com

Legal Rights: Key Policy Letters from the Education Secretary and Deputy Secretary

Link: U.S. Dept of Ed: Key Policy Letters from the Education Secretary and Deputy Secretary

June 14, 2011

June 14, 2011

Dear Colleagues:

Harassment and bullying are serious problems in our schools, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students are the targets of disproportionate shares of these problems. Thirty-two percent of students aged 12-18 experienced verbal or physical bullying during the 2007-2008 school year;¹ and, according to a recent survey, more than 90 percent of LGBT students in grades 6 through 12 reported being verbally harassed — and almost half reported being physically harassed — during the 2008-2009 school year.² High levels of harassment and bullying correlate with poorer educational outcomes, lower future aspirations, frequent school absenteeism, and lower grade-point averages.³ Recent tragedies involving LGBT students and students perceived to be LGBT only underscore the need for safer schools.

Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) and similar student-initiated groups addressing LGBT issues can play an important role in promoting safer schools and creating more welcoming learning environments.  Nationwide, students are forming these groups in part to combat bullying and harassment of LGBT students and to promote understanding and respect in the school community.  Although the efforts of these groups focus primarily on the needs of LGBT students, students who have LGBT family members and friends, and students who are perceived to be LGBT, messages of respect, tolerance, and inclusion benefit all our students.  By encouraging dialogue and providing supportive resources, these groups can help make schools safe and affirming environments for everyone.

But in spite of the positive effect these groups can have in schools, some such groups have been unlawfully excluded from school grounds, prevented from forming, or denied access to school resources.  These same barriers have sometimes been used to target religious and other student groups, leading Congress to pass the Equal Access Act.

In 1984, Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Equal Access Act, requiring public secondary schools to provide equal access for extracurricular clubs.  Rooted in principles of equal treatment and freedom of expression, the Act protects student-initiated groups of all types.  As one of my predecessors, Secretary Richard W. Riley, pointed out in guidance concerning the Equal Access Act and religious clubs more than a decade ago, we “protect our own freedoms by respecting the freedom of others who differ from us.”⁴ By allowing students to discuss difficult issues openly and honestly, in a civil manner, our schools become forums for combating ignorance, bigotry, hatred, and discrimination.

The Act requires public secondary schools to treat all student-initiated groups equally, regardless of the religious, political, philosophical, or other subject matters discussed at their meetings.  Its protections apply to groups that address issues relating to LGBT students and matters involving sexual orientation and gender identity, just as they apply to religious and other student groups.

Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s General Counsel, Charles P. Rose, is issuing a set of legal guidelines affirming the principles that prevent unlawful discrimination against any student-initiated groups.  We intend for these guidelines to provide schools with the information and resources they need to help ensure that all students, including LGBT and gender nonconforming students, have a safe place to learn, meet, share experiences, and discuss matters that are important to them.

Although specific implementation of the Equal Access Act depends upon contextual circumstances, these guidelines reflect basic obligations imposed on public school officials by the Act and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The general rule, approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, is that a public high school that allows at least one noncurricular student group to meet on school grounds during noninstructional time (e.g., lunch, recess, or before or after school) may not deny similar access to other noncurricular student groups, regardless of the religious, political, philosophical, or other subject matters that the groups address.

I encourage every school district to make sure that its administrators, faculty members, staff, students, and parents are familiar with these principles in order to protect the rights of all students — regardless of religion, political or philosophical views, sexual orientation, or gender identity.  I also urge school districts to use the guidelines to develop or improve district policies.  In doing so, school officials may find it helpful to explain to the school community that the Equal Access Act requires public schools to afford equal treatment to all noncurricular student organizations, including GSAs and other groups that focus on issues related to LGBT students, sexual orientation, or gender identity.  Officials need not endorse any particular student organization, but federal law requires that they afford all student groups the same opportunities to form, to convene on school grounds, and to have access to the same resources available to other student groups.

The process of revising or developing an equal-access policy offers an opportunity for school officials to engage their community in an open dialogue on the equal treatment of all noncurricular student organizations.  It is important to remember, therefore, that the Equal Access Act’s requirements are a bare legal minimum.  I invite and encourage you to go beyond what the law requires in order to increase students’ sense of belonging in the school and to help students, teachers, and parents recognize the core values behind our principles of free speech.  As noted in our October 2010 Dear Colleague Letter and December 2010 guidance regarding anti-bullying policies, I applaud such policies as positive steps toward ensuring equal access to education for all students.

Thank you for your work on behalf of our nation’s children.

	Sincerely,
	/s/
	Arne Duncan

Enclosure  MS Word (43 K)

¹Dinkes, R., Kemp, J., and Baum, K. (2010). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2010. (NCES 2010-012/NCJ 228478). 42 National Center for Education Statistics: Washington, DC.

²Kosciw, J. G., Greytak, E. A., Diaz, E. M., and Bartkiewicz, M. J. (2010). The 2009 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in our nation’s schools, 26, New York: GLSEN.

³GLSEN, at 46-8.

⁴U.S. Department of Education, “Secretary’s Guidelines on Religious Expression in Public Schools,” August 1995.

Image Credit: lgbtprogres dot me

Application Has Been Turned In

Last Wednesday, August 28, the application and packet for the GSA was submitted to the principal of the high school. Included in the packet was our constitution with 14 student signatures, the Articles of Association, bylaws, and the student letters written last Spring. The copies were on bright yellow paper (except for the constitution and signatures which was on rainbow paper) so the application would be easy to find. One of our faculty advisors said several years ago she helped students turn in applications to start a similar club by a different name, but the applications kept getting "misplaced" by administration and/or district. (The students gave up.) Hopefully, there are new people there now.

Last Wednesday was also the 50th Anniversary for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. :)

May I randomly add that we have three official faculty advisors and two unofficial faculty advisors? We are so blessed!

The students were looking forward to participating in tonight's Club Tailgate to promote the GSA club. We can't, however, participate until the club is officially approved, which could take several weeks. Disappointing, I know, but I told the students this will give us time to be more prepared, to have ideas for meetings, a service project plan, etc. When we are official, we can present ourselves as an organized unit whereas right now we are kind of like, "Um, what do we do next?" which is what I'm constantly asking myself. LOL

Image Credit: nomoredownlow dot tv

Our Official Sign-Up Sheet

The lines are misaligned here. I'm leaving them that way in case anyone wants to copy and paste it to a word processing program where the lines should line up there. And, yes, I will print this on rainbow paper.

(  ) High School Gay Straight Alliance

I am signing this to show interest in becoming a member of a Gay Straight Alliance Club (GSA) at ( ) High School. The purpose of this club is to provide a safe and supportive environment for all students including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) students, their Straight allies, and students with LGBTQ family.  The club plans to work towards providing a safe, neutral, and supportive environment to students affected by a lack of understanding.

Students Name Cell or email to inform you of our club meetings

___________________________    (_____)______-________    ___________________________@___________

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Image Credit: the royal store dot com

Our School's Application for Clubs, Rules, and Constitution Example

During my visit with the school's administrator, I was given an application for the club's charter, a list of rules governing clubs, and an example of a club's constitution. I have a phone app that takes a picture of the documents and turns them into pdf format. They turned out a little blurry -- it's not your eyes. :)

Application for Club Charter

Rules Governing Clubs

Club Constitution Example (we have our own as previously posted August 16th.

Our Official By-Laws

Bylaws

The ( ) High School GSA Club

Adopted (8/13/2013)

Section One – Officers

The ( ) High School GSA shall be governed by 6 elected officers of the student body, who are elected in the second week of May or every year and whose term begins on the last day of the school year. The club shall have a minimum of one advisor acting as both a representative of the school administration and on behalf of the faculty.

Officers are expected to keep a GPA of 3.0 and above. No officer shall be eligible for election without prior signed consent of the club advisor.

Section Two – Elections of officers

All candidates who wish to be officers of the ( ) High School GSA shall submit to the advisor two weeks before elections an application and written declaration of why they are declaring their candidacy. It shall be the responsibility of the advisor to administer elections to ensure fairness. There shall be 6 elected officers and they are as follows:

• President, Vice President, Secretary, Senior Class Representative, Junior Class Representative, and Sophomore Class Representative whose responsibilities are listed in Addendum A.

-Sophomore class representative shall be elected the first week of October and shall submit the same application and declaration of candidacy to the advisor before the end of September.

Section Three – Officers Disciplinary Procedures

If it is decided by a member of the GSA that an officer is not performing their duties, it is the responsibility of that member to inform the advisor of their complaint. Once the advisor receives 3 complaints or as defined by a majority of the club during the first month of the school year, or a serious enough complaint as defined by the advisor, it is the advisor’s duty to verbally inform the officer in question of the complaints, while protecting the identity of the complain-tees. This shall be the first verbal warning, and they shall be given a minimum of two weeks, or a period of time decided by the advisor, to change their behavior. After this time, if the officer in question has not changed or improved their behavior, or satisfactorily performed their duties, a second verbal warning shall be issued. After the second period of warning of minimum of another 2 weeks, if the officer in question still has not modified their behavior to the satisfaction of the members, they shall be asked to resign from their position by the advisor.

All of these procedures and warnings will be known by the other officers within the GSA so that they may support and assist the officer in question in satisfactorily performing their duties and adjusting their behavior to fit the needs of the general membership and the GSA club.

If an officer’s GPA drops below an average of 3.0, they will be able to continue attending presidency and general meetings but will not be given any responsibilities or tasks until their GPA has risen to a 3.0 or higher.

If an officer’s GPA drops below an average or 2.0, they will be asked to temporarily step down from their office until their GPA has risen to an average or 3.0 or higher. They will also be ask to not attend regular presidency meetings but will still be able to attend general meetings and club activities.

If a member of the presidency is involved in sexual harassment as defined by ( ) High School and/or Alpine School district, or if they partake in any form of drugs and/or alcohol, they will be required to immediately resign from their position.

Section Four – Terms of Office for Officers

GSA Officers are elected for a 1 year term. If an officer resigns from their position before the completion of their term then the elected replacement will complete the remainder of the term. A replacement must be elected within one month of an officer’s resignation. If the president resigns before the end of their term then the vice president will immediately become the club president and a replacement vice president shall be elected in the manner previously mentioned.

Section Five – Voting

Prior notice of a minimum of one week shall be given to the general membership before a vote or election is held and a majority ballot vote is required to be an elected officer.

Section 6 – Meetings

The exact date, time, and location will need to be determined to best suit the advisor’s schedule. Any member of the student body may attend meetings. If a meeting is cancelled, it is the responsibility of the officers to inform the membership and in addition, place notification on the meeting room door.

Section 7 – Rules of Order

All meetings shall be conducted by the president unless another officer has been asked to conduct the meeting. It is the responsibility of the president to call meetings to order and end them according to the time constraints laid out in the agenda of the meeting.

-Basic parliamentary procedures adapted from Roberts Rules of Order will be used.

Sections Eight – Bylaws

The bylaws shall be adopted by the officers and advisor before the end of the month of September of each year. It is also the responsibility of the officers to review school and district policies and procedures and if any section of these bylaws is found in conflict with any policy or procedure of the school and/or district then that section shall be amended and adopted by the officers, advisors, and members of the club unless said school or district Policy is thought to be discriminatory, state and/or federally unconstitutional, or going against this club’s, GSA of ( ) High School, constitution.

If a district or school policy or procedure is found to be any of the above mentioned, it will be brought to the attention of the school and/or district as well as one of the following third parties so that an investigation may take place. Those third parties are as follows; National Association of GSA Networks (Gay-Straight Alliance), Utah QSA Network (Queer-Straight Alliance), ACLU of Utah (American Civil Liberties Union), and GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network).

Addendum (A)

( ) High School GSA

Adopted (8/13/2013)

Officers 

The Responsibilities of the GSA Club officers shall include but not be limited to the following:

• Set overall strategy and calendar for the GSA club.
• Plan and lead club business, meetings, and activities.
• Lead efforts to revise the Articles of Association, Bylaws, and Addendum as needed to satisfy the requirements of the school and club.

President

The President’s responsibilities include:

• Supervising, facilitating, and coordinating GSA activities and meetings
• Calling and presiding over regular and special meetings of the club.
• Working in conjunction with the officers to create and plan meetings and programming of the GSA
• Serve as primary student liaison with the school.

Vice President

The Vice President’s responsibilities include:

• Coordination of all fundraising activities.
• Preparation of meeting and activity space.
• Assume the responsibilities of the president if said president cannot complete their term or attend the meetings and/or activities.
• Work with the President to create and implement programming for the GSA clubs.

Secretary

The Secretary’s responsibilities include:

• Preparation and documentation of minutes and agendas of the GSA club.
• Recording and documenting club history (includes photographing events)
• Drafting and writing any Club publications or press releases.

Senior Class Representative

The responsibilities of the senior class representative include:

• Liaison of members in their grade level
• Working with class officers of the school for their grade level to learn about potential opportunities for involvement of the GSA club, i.e. parades, dances, pep rallies, publicity and education events.
• Responsibilities of Public Relations such as: informing school and local media of club activities and events (including writing of media publications in conjunction with the Club secretary), and promoting the club in school and local media.

Junior Class Representative

The responsibilities of the junior class representative include:

• Liaison of members in their grade level.
• Working with class officers of the school for their grade level to learn about potential opportunities for involvement of the GSA club, i.e. parades, dances, pep rallies, publicity and education events.
• Also the responsibilities of treasurer such as; tracking and documentation of budget and club fundraising, and to work with the vice president in planning possible and future fundraisers

Sophomore Class Representative

The responsibilities of the sophomore class representative include:

• Liaison of members in their grade level.
• Working with class officers of the school for their grade level to learn about potential opportunities for involvement of the GSA club, i.e. parades, dances, pep rallies, publicity and education events.
• Communication with President and other officers about incoming and youth students needs as the newest members of the student body
• Oversee, in conjunction with the club officers and Club advisor, outreach to local middle/junior high schools.

Advisor

The responsibilities of the club advisor include:

• Overseeing and monitoring the appropriate behavior of all members and officers of the QSA Club.
• Overseeing and conducting fair and honest elections for officers within the club
• Acting as a supportive and mature influence to foster a positive, healthy, and inclusive environment for club membership.
• Working with students as a liaison between students, parents, and school administration.