Oceanside, San Diego Unified school districts receive high marks for supporting LGBTQ students – The San Diego Union-Tribune
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond moderated a panel in Oceanside Unified Tuesday as the school district was honored by a civil rights group for its efforts to support LGBTQ students.
But some LGBTQ students at Oceanside said they still have yet to see those efforts materialize at their school and want classes that discuss LGBTQ history and more follow-up from administrators when they report bullying.
On Tuesday civil rights group Equality California released its second annual report card grading school districts’ efforts to support LGBTQ students. Educators and civil rights activists say such efforts are crucial considering that many LGBTQ students face stigma and harassment for their sexual or gender identities and, as a result, worse mental health.
The group asked California’s more than 340 unified school districts to respond to a survey about how they are supporting LGBTQ students; of those, only about a third responded.
Based on their responses, Oceanside Unified and San Diego Unified were two of the 19 districts rated the highest by Equality California for having extensive policies and programs to create LGBTQ inclusion for students.
Poway Unified was rated in the middle tier, meaning the group believes it has done a good amount of work but not enough.
Vista Unified was rated in the lowest tier, meaning the group believes it has taken initial steps but not fully implemented important policies and programs.
Eight other unified districts in San Diego County did not respond to the survey, according to the report.
The survey found mixed results: some efforts, like general anti-bullying policies and procedures, are in place at the vast majority of districts that responded. Others, like dress code policies that allow students to wear attire that matches their gender identity or gender expression, are in place at far fewer districts.
About half of the school districts that responded have at least one gender-neutral bathroom that is easily accessible for students and not in a nurse’s office or faculty lounge, the survey found. About two-thirds allow transgender and gender-nonconforming students to change their name and gender markers.
About half said they have not yet adopted LGBTQ-inclusive textbooks or other instructional materials. Since 2011 California has had the FAIR Education Act, which requires schools to discuss the role and contributions of LGBTQ Americans in social science classes, along with other historically underrepresented groups.
On Tuesday morning Thurmond, the state superintendent, moderated a panel discussion with Oceanside Unified staff, board members and students about how schools can be supporting LGBTQ students.
Oceanside Unified Superintendent Julie Vitale accepted an award for Oceanside’s efforts as one of the spotlight districts. Vitale, who is one of a few openly gay school district superintendents in the state, said she has faced discrimination during her career that has motivated her to stop the same thing from happening to her students.
“Because of these experiences, it honestly has only made me stronger and more committed to ensuring that our unseen students are seen, our LGBTQ students,” Vitale said in an interview.
Oceanside’s efforts come at a time when books, curricula, staff trainings and other efforts to support LGBTQ students have come under fire nationwide from conservatives who claim that talking about LGBTQ issues equates to sexualizing children.
“Let’s give our board members and superintendent and staff a round of applause for championing these policies in an environment when the state and the nation have literally gone the other way, banning curriculum, banning books and not being willing to talk about inclusion, which I don’t get,” Thurmond said during the panel.
Oceanside Unified has trained all of its staff in unconscious bias, Vitale said, an effort that started about four years ago. There is at least one counselor at every school and the district brings in mental health specialists from outside agencies, said Jordy Sparks, Oceanside Unified’s diversity, equity and inclusion director. The district said it trains administrators on how to investigate reports of discrimination and bullying. And schools have supplemental curriculum about LGBTQ history, Sparks said.
When asked about bathrooms, Vitale and Sparks said they don’t know how many gender-neutral bathrooms they have on campuses or if every school has one.
Despite district leaders’ promises and policies, some Oceanside LGBTQ students said they haven’t seen those policies put into action.
“There’s little to no representation,” said Mio Holguin, a 17-year-old, bisexual Oceanside High senior who was a panelist at Tuesday’s event. “You kind of have to find it.”
Holguin and fellow student panelist Marius Montoya said they haven’t seen lessons in any of their classes about LGBTQ history or notable LGBTQ figures.
“We don’t really see anybody like us in history,” said Montoya, 16, who is a junior at Oceanside High and is gay.
Montoya said he has reported incidents to school staff when he was bullied for being gay — for example, students have thrown things at him or said insensitive comments as he was spending time with his boyfriend. But Montoya said he didn’t see staff do anything about his reports.
“That’s the main worry I feel a lot of LGBTQ students have with going to report things, is that something won’t happen,” Montoya said during the panel.