From: rwockner@netcom.com (Rex Wockner)
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 13:09:59 -0700 (PDT)

SOME ARTICLES BY FREE-LANCE JOURNALIST REX WOCKNER ARE SENT TO GAYNET AND 
UPLOADED TO THE QUEER RESOURCES DIRECTORY APPROXIMATELY ONE MONTH AFTER 
THEY ARE PUBLISHED BY GAY NEWSPAPERS...


TEACHER REPRIMANDED FOR BRINGING HER GAY SON TO CLASS
 
by Rex Wockner
 
        A teacher at San Diego's Oak Park Elementary School received a 
written reprimand and was denied a letter of recommendation by her 
principal after her gay son spoke to her second-grade class in late May.
        Teacher Toni Wanic invited her son, Nick Ashton-Hart, to her 
American Sign Language classroom to answer questions after students 
reacted negatively the previous day when one girl told her classmates 
that her family had been caring for a gay man who had AIDS. 
        "There was a great deal of 'Oh, yuck!' and 'Eeew!' -- a lot of 
expressions of disgust," Wanic recalled. "I was shocked by it.
        "So, I thought, 'How can I deal with this?'" Wanic said. "It was 
one of those supreme teaching moments that come up. So, I went home and 
called Nick and asked him if he'd come in and answer some questions."
        Ashton-Hart answered the second-graders questions for about 30 
minutes May 25.
        As soon as the kids found out he was gay, "the hands just shot 
up," Wanic recalled. "The questions were wonderful, like:  'When did you 
know you were gay? Do all gay people get AIDS? How come you call yourself 
"gay"?' And they asked me, 'Are you mad at him for being gay?'
        "One of the boys who was so disgusted when the 'gay' word came up 
the day before, asked, 'Do you have a boyfriend?'"
        None of the kids said anything negative to Ashton-Hart, Wanic 
said. In fact, they kept moving closer to him throughout the half hour. 
Near the end, "one little girl decided, 'You should just be the way you 
are,'" Wanic said.
        But two parents were unhappy when they heard what their child 
learned in school that day and they complained to Wanic's principal, Juel 
Moore.
        "The next morning, she marched down to my room ... and was quite 
upset, very upset," Wanic said.
        Later in the day, Moore sent Wanic a memo: "Toni, it was brought 
to my attention by Mr. and Mrs. [name deleted] today that you used the 
entire enrichment period of May 25, 1994, to teach about alternative life 
styles. ... Currently, alternative life styles is not among subjects we 
[the school district] are permitted to teach. ... In view of the nature 
of the complaint, I must issue this reprimand. I must request that you 
confer with me when there is a need to deal with issues that are 
controversial so that we can get resource people skilled in the subjects 
to work with the issues effectively and so that parents can review the 
instructional program and/or materials."
        In subsequent conversations, Moore asked Wanic to meet with 
parents who were upset about Ashton-Hart's presentation. After some 
disagreement between Moore and Wanic about whether the two of them should 
meet privately first and whether a civil-service commissioner should be 
present, a meeting with two parents occurred. Wanic described it as 
"positive," with all sides agreeing teachers should inform parents when 
issues such as homosexuality are to be discussed in a second-grade classroom.
        After the meeting, Wanic says, Moore told Wanic to write a letter 
of apology to her students' parents for violating district guidelines on 
discussion of controversial matter.
        Wanic refused because she felt some parents would not want an 
apology for a gay person speaking to their child.
        "I was very sure there were some parents of those kids who would 
not object to what happened and in fact would probably have been 
supportive," Wanic told the Times. "The little girl who first brought 
this topic up, I'm sure her parents don't want a letter of apology. And I 
never wrote it."
        Wanic didn't, but her principal did. On June 3, Moore sent a 
letter to parents that said: "On May 25, 1994, students who attended the 
American Sign Language enrichment class, taught by Mrs. [sic] Toni Wanic, 
received instruction in Social and Health Education. Although the San 
Diego Unified School District has developed health education lessons and 
incorporated them into appropriate curriculum, parents are notified prior 
to the teaching of these lessons. This was not the case with the lesson 
taught on May 25, 1994. I, therefore, offer my apology. Please be assured 
that all teachers will continue to receive training related to district 
policies and the importance of communicating with parents about issues 
which are controversial."
        The letter was carbon-copied to Superintendent of Schools Bertha 
Pendleton and to Moore's supervisor.
        Moore also gave Wanic a highlighted copy of some of the 
school-district's policies. Under a section entitled "Speakers 
Prohibited," Moore highlighted, "Those expressing philosophies inimical 
to our accepted mores and standards of morality." Under a section 
entitled "Controversial Issues," Moore highlighted, "Teacher confers with 
principal on highly controversial issues prior to their introduction in 
the classroom."
        As a result of Wanic's violation of these policies, Moore 
withdrew an offer to write Wanic a letter of recommendation for a 
position she was seeking for next year, Wanic said. Wanic's position at 
Oak Park has been eliminated for reasons unrelated to the sexuality incident.
        "She said I was insubordinate and had not apologized to the 
parents like she suggested," Wanic recalled.
        Moore did not return a reporter's calls to her office secretary 
and the school's answering machine.
                                                        
 
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