Alameda school district to expand LGBT-inclusive materials

The Alameda Unified School District is set to expand anti-bullying materials that are LGBT-inclusive to also specifically cover race, religion, and other protected classes.

Meanwhile, a judge's ruling in favor of the district, over a lawsuit concerning the curriculum, has been appealed.

The East Bay district's school board voted on December 8 to approve a recommendation by Superintendent Kirsten Vital.

Among other things, Vital recommended that curriculum addressing sexual orientation and gender identity, known as Lesson 9, be taught until literature lists for all protected classes are adopted.

The action comes after months of contention about the materials.

After debate among parents, teachers, and other community members, the board voted 3-2 on May 26 to adopt Lesson 9.

The curriculum covers kindergarten through fifth grade and includes lesson plans on stereotypes, different kinds of families, name-calling, and being an ally.

Parents - represented by Kevin Snider, chief counsel of the Pacific Justice Institute -sued the district, claiming state education code allowed them to have their children excused from the curriculum.

On December 1, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled against the parents.

Vital said in a statement, "The district believes that preventing and addressing bullying and harassment is key to creating safe and welcoming schools that are conducive to learning. This ruling affirms our ability to help ensure our schools are safe learning environments where everyone is accepted and welcomed."

Vital did not respond to requests for additional comment.

An appeal was filed December 11. In an e-mail, Snider wrote, "We believe that the lower court committed legal and factual errors in its decision."

According to the district's statement, a 26-member community advisory committee had been formed to develop criteria that could be used to review anti-bullying and anti-harassment curricula.

The criteria were then provided to a teachers' committee, which used it to review available instructional materials. Their recommendation on which curricula and materials were best for the district was then made to Vital, according to the statement.

Sean Cahill, who along with his partner has two children going to school in the district, has been part of the community advisory committee.

Cahill, 44, said in a phone interview that the intention, in part, is to retain Lesson 9 until the district finds "something equal to or better than" Lesson 9.

"We've retained what we worked on, and we added to it, and that's always a great thing," said Cahill.

Another member of the committee is Brian Harris, 17, a gay student at Alameda Community Learning Center.

Harris is worried about protections for LGBTs not being as strong now, but he plans to stay active in the process.

"I like the fact that they kept the Lesson 9, and that they're going to be trying to expand it without just going with a generic curriculum," said Harris. However, he said he's "a little disappointed" that the district had to look for a new curriculum in the first place.

"I don't like the fact that they were basically bullied into this by a small minority of people here in Alameda, and also there's no point," because of the December 1 ruling in favor of the district, said Harris.

The group Seeking Equity and Respect for all Viewpoints in Education (SERVE) Alameda wants to recall Ron Mooney, Tracy Jensen, and Niel Tam - the three board members who voted for Lesson 9 in May.

The group has until December 29 to submit 8,380 valid signatures against each of the trustees to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

The group did not respond to a request for comment by press time.