RAMONA SCHOOL DISTRICT QUASHES SIXTH GRADER REPORT ON HARVEY MILK - ACLU MAY SUE
24 May 2009RAMONA, CA– The American Civil Liberties Union says it may sue the school district for Ramona, Calif., for its reaction to a sixth-grader’s report on Harvey Milk.
The San Diego branch of the non-profit legal organization said school district officials violated the Mount Woodson Elementary School student’s freedom of speech rights by requiring students to obtain permission from their parents to hear her report on the late San Francisco city supervisor, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Thursday.
The mandated permission from parents was because student Natalie Jones’s report on Milk, who was a gay rights advocate, fell under the life and sex education policy of the school board, district officials said.
ACLU Legal Director David Blair-Loy said Jones ultimately presented her report to half of her classmates after their parents received a letter detailing the openly homosexual city official’s gay rights activities.
“We think the school district singled out and discriminated against Natalie’s speech because of its content,” said Blair-Loy, who wants the school district to allow Jones to present her report to her entire class and for her to receive an apology from the school district. “This is not sex education. This is a presentation about Harvey Milk, a historical figure who happened to be gay.”
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