No “Milk” for Students at San Diego School

Yesterday, the ACLU threatened a San Diego County school with a law suite for refusing to let a student present a report she had prepared as part of a class assignment which dealt with the life of slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk…that is until her classmates obtained written permission from their parents to hear it.

The legal director of the ACLU of San Diego County, David Blair-Loy said the principal of Mt. Woodson Elementary School in Ramona violated the free speech rights of Natalie Jones, a 6th-grader at the school, by preventing her from giving an in-class presentation on Milk.

Theresa Grace, the school’s principal stated last month that the girl’s project, would require parents to be notified in writing, as per school policy, before their children are exposed to lessons dealing with sex.

Natalie wasn’t allowed to present her 12-page PowerPoint presentation until after the principal sent letters to her classmate’s parents alerting them about the “sensitive topic.” After the letters went out, Natalie was allowed to give her report, but only during lunch recess, not in class. 8 of the 13 students in Natalie’s class attended.

The ACLU sent a letter to the Ramona Unified District demanding that school officials apologize to Natalie, as well as clarify its sex education policy. The ACLU also is asking the girl be given the opportunity to present her biographical account of Milk’s life and death in class.

Blair-Loy stated:

“It’s not about sex, it’s not about sex education. It’s a presentation about a historical figure who happened to be gay.”