GSA board meeting takes place

March 8, 2010 • written by Bess Wilhelms  
Filed under News

North Kirkwood Middle School’s South Gym was so quiet, even the cameras stopped clicking as Megan Hickerson described her experiences at KHS only a few years before.

“I would walk down the hall, and it would part like the Red Sea, like I was contagious,” Hickerson, a 2008 graduate, said.

Hickerson hopes to get “sexual orientation” into the KSD non-discrimination policy, if not this year, then at a later date.

Hickerson faced many difficulties in her years at KHS, including being attacked on a regular basis because of her sexuality.

“In my junior year, I was shoved into a locker. And there were witnesses, and not student witnesses, but staff,” Hickerson said. “It was not reported.”

Hickerson has great hopes for the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA)’s accomplishments in this year.

“To see that the [students] that were freshmen when I was a senior do what we tried to do in ’06 is just phenomenal,” Hickerson said to the board. “It’s sad that this still needs to be talked about and debated.”

When Hickerson went to the school board to put “sexual orientation” in the non-discrimination policy in 2006, with over 600 signatures on a petition, the change in policy was not discussed.

“There were a lot of different reasons why they didn’t,” Hickerson said. “I don’t think it’s a legal thing because a lot of other districts do it. I think it’s more the feel of Kirkwood. It’s very conservative.”

The public comment period only lasted its allotted 30 minutes, but the 30 minutes could make all the difference for the GSA’s goals.

“It’s really ridiculous that [sexual orentation] is not in there in the first place,” Hickerson said. “A big population of Kirkwood High School is not protected.”

GSA’s hopes for the change have been in place since the school year started.

“At the beginning of the year we set goals to put sexual orientation on the non-discrimination policy,” Sharon Taysi, GSA sponsor and science teacher, said.

The GSA collected 940 signatures on a petition that went around the school before the GSA brought it to the board March 1.

“It shows how many supporters we have in the Kirkwood area and at the school,” Matt Dumke, GSA co-president and senior, said.

According to Taysi, the board has to accept the petition on to the agenda at the policy change meeting in late April or early May before the change can even be considered.

“I’m hoping that the school board will consider in April and May that they will change the policy,” Taysi said.

Dumke also sees a need for the petition to go through.

“I know that in my high school education-and in other people- have been discriminated against, and that’s not OK,” Dumke said.

Dumke and Hickerson were only two among many speakers at the board meeting from both the GSA and The Call, including Sean McWay, senior and Call editor; Ryan Schuessler, senior and co-editor in chief of The Call; Andy Gaglio, senior and GSA co-president; Dumke; Taysi; Aubrey Beltran, junior; Franklin McCallie, former principal; and Brandon Hull, sophomore.