Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Engagement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parent urges Guilford schools to support Pride event; board says participation will be voluntary
Summary
At a public comment period, a Guilford parent and Guilford Pride committee chair asked the district to allow schools to participate in a local Pride event; board members said there is no district policy forbidding participation and that any involvement would be voluntary and communicated to principals and PTOs.
A parent and Guilford Pride event committee chair urged the Guilford Board of Education to allow and publicize school participation in a local Pride event and expressed concern that LGBTQ+ students need visible support from the schools.
“I'm not only the Guilford Pride event committee chair but also a parent of a child who is part of an extremely marginalized group currently being targeted,” Sarah Salato said during public comment. She asked the board to “seriously consider giving permissions to our schools to be involved in this Pride event in any way that they would wish or even just help us spreading the word of the event to our students.”
Board members responded that they appreciated the request and said there is no formal district policy precluding school employees or school representative groups from participating. One board member said schools had not been visibly present in prior years and expressed support for finding ways to include the schools. The board said any participation this year would be voluntary and that no student would be required or penalized for participating.
The board committed to informing principals and PTOs about the event and to translating communications (for example the district letter about immigration issues) into other languages when appropriate. Members said they would ensure the request is shared with the event organizers.
Why it matters: the exchange put on record a community request for visible school support of an event focused on LGBTQ+ inclusion and prompted an immediate response from board leadership clarifying district policy and the voluntary nature of participation.
