Photo: Andy Birkey, Minnesota Independent

Photo: Andy Birkey, Minnesota Independent

Students, teachers and concerned residents of the Anoka-Hennepin School District crowded into the district’s board meeting on Monday evening to vent their concerns after learning that the district paid out $25,000 to a student who says he was continually harassed by two district teachers because they thought he was gay.

While the citizens voiced their frustration with the district, most gave concrete solutions for how the district could improve upon its policies and save face with the community on the issue of anti-gay harassment.

Alex Merritt says he endured taunting and harassment at the hands of his two teachers, Diane Cleveland and Walter Filson, during the 2007 school year, according to a complaint filed with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The school acknowledged it disciplined the teachers only minimally, stating that laws governing tenure prevent them from doing more. Residents of the district say it’s not enough.

Peter Gokey, who teaches at a school in the district, said last night, “About this being an isolated incident… that isn’t the case.”

Gokey told stories about students and staff who have found the climate in the district hostile to gay staff and students. “It’s come a long way, but there’s still more work to be done, and what we can do is take a stand against harassment,” he said.

“I do know that Outfront Minnesota [a LGBT advocacy group] has offered training,” he said, urging the board to program in-service workshops on harassment. “It’s a chance to do some actual training on this issue. This is a chance to say let’s move forward.”

Lucas Stiles, a student at Blaine High School, said he understands that teachers might disagree about issues like same-sex marriage and homosexuality, but that can’t creep into the classroom.

“They have the right to their own opinion. They are allowed to not like who someone is sexually attracted to,” he said. “But it is not their right to make comments about it, to joke about it or tell other students that they are against it.”

Stiles said he suggested that perhaps the offending teachers sit in on some of the district’s Gay-Straight Alliance meetings to get to know some of the students who are affected by harassment.

“These students, whether they are gay or not, deserve protection,” said Minneapolis’ Steven Brusewitz, a former district employee and past president of the school employees’ association. “I find this really disturbing. I really have a hard time seeing how you can continue the employment of these individuals.”

Katrina Plotz, a Minneapolis resident, expressed her shocked by the allegations. “Any teacher who deliberately inflicts emotional harm on a student has no place in the classroom,” she said. “The fact that these teachers are still employed is shameful.”

A mother from Elk River gave emotional testimony about raising a gay son in the district. It wasn’t until he came out in college that he began to tell her about the painful harassment he endured as a teenager.

“Don’t get me wrong, he had a wonderful education,” she said. “But it breaks my heart as a parent to hear these things I am continually learning.

“I truly think we cannot effect change if we maintain that this is isolated incident,” she told the board. “I think we shut our eyes to the possibility of a better future if we maintain that this is an isolated incident.”

Those in attendance said they will continue to work with the district to ensure that incidents like the one experienced by Merritt will not happen again.

(Disclosure: I am a member, along with 1,200 other Minnesotans, of a Facebook group that helped coordinate Monday’s meeting with the school board.)