I am a school board member, but I cannot speak for the board as a whole, so I am contacting you of my own accord to express my personal opinion and commit to you and others that as a school board member, I will not ignore our LGBTQ community’s concerns.
I am disheartened to hear of any situation where a student in our schools feels mistreated, discriminated against, or victimized in any way. I am very sensitive to this issue, as I myself was bullied as a child and in college for not being “thin enough” and for having a diverse group of friends who lived alternative lifestyles. I also grew up with an older sister with severe developmental disabilities who along with me and my other siblings was targeted by other youngsters, and yes, sometimes by adults, who "feared" anyone different from themselves. Because of this, my parents (my father especially) made our home growing up the safe haven for children and adults in our neighborhood who needed a soft place to land when they felt they had nowhere else to go. The revolving door was always open and I believe kids showed up just to feel “normal” in a world where they spent too much time feeling overwhelmed by discrimination and distress.
I know how difficult it is to change the unkind actions of children whose parents foster intolerance, and I can tell you that I became a special education teacher so that at least my students would have their own safe place. I believe if you asked any one of my former students, they would tell you that my classroom was definitely an environment where they felt accepted no matter what lifestyle they lived or what disabilities they may have been challenged with.
As a parent, grandparent, teacher, former school district administrator and now school board member, I have no tolerance for bullying or discrimination of any kind, and although legally I cannot comment on matters of personnel or speak openly of executive session discussions regarding student discipline, personnel, or legal matters, I can assure you in any case where I am made aware that any employee of the district has engaged in or openly supported discriminatory acts in our schools or at school events, I will push to see that it is investigated, and if based in fact I will not condone it or make excuses.
My heart goes out to all children and their families who are dealing with the emotional trauma of not feeling safe and accepted in the diverse world we live in and I want our schools to be a welcoming environment where students and their families feel accepted and supported, as every person deserves to be.
Most Sincerely,
Janis Hanwell
Not so proud of Cape.
Monday night I attended a meeting at CAMP Rehoboth. It was in response to recent media and community discussion regarding the culture toward LGBTQ students in Cape Henlopen schools. CAMP Rehoboth, Equality Delaware and the ACLU of Delaware invited students, parents and concerned members of the public to speak about the abuse and bullying occurring in Cape schools. I listened to complaints and concerns from all attendees. I have hope for the actions that are being taken and pledge my support for the changes set in motion.
This is not the first time I have heard these complaints. As a co-founder of TransTalk at CAMP Rehoboth, creator of TransSocial of Delaware and the meetup site Rehoboth TransLiance I have listened to the horror stories of students and parents. As a Cape graduate, three time co-captain of Cape wrestling and co-captain of Cape soccer I am ashamed and embarrassed by my alma mater.
I am very proud of the young students who spoke up. I heard about teachers who expressed their personal religious concerns about student lifestyles. I heard about transgender students being forced to use bathrooms that do not conform to their gender identity. I was outraged by the stories of abuse towards our LGBTQ students by classmates and specifically Cape athletes. Lastly I was deeply troubled by several legislator's recent lack of support and decision to cut funding for the Gay Straight Alliance.
According to a recent article in delawareonline "More than half of transgender and gender nonconforming people who were bullied, harassed or assaulted in school because of their gender identity have attempted suicide, as reported in a 2010 survey conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality. A more recent survey from 2015 found that the majority of respondents who were openly transgender or perceived as transgender in grades K-12 experienced some form of mistreatment, including being verbally harassed (54 percent), physically attacked (24 percent), and sexually assaulted (13 percent) because they were transgender. Further, 17 percent experienced such severe mistreatment that they left a school as a result."
The school board and administration need to do more. The Cape school board needs to include gender identity in their nondiscrimination policy. We are leaving these kids behind and placing them in harms way. I challenge my former coach and Dean of Students Bill Collick to support these children and teach these athletes to be leaders like you have done for so many others. These children just want to participate. They want to learn, play sports, and be treated like humans. They should not be singled out, degraded, or outed. Transgender children just want to live a normal life. Bathroom use has always been used to segregate and discriminate. It is no different for our transgender community than it was for our brothers and sisters of color. I urge everyone to contact your legislators and have funding restored to the GSA. I beg of Christians to stop using my religion to hate. Just stop.
Kathy Carpenter Brown
As a member of the Cape Henlopen School Board, I wanted to reach out and express that I stand with the LGBTQ community.
As a woman and a mother I have always felt open to and accepting of the LBGTQ community. Equality is a cornerstone and guiding principle for me. My main goal in raising my children is to bring them up in a warm, loving community, and to teach them to value and accept all people, regardless of race, gender or sexual preference. I have lived in this community for almost all of my life (that’s 32 years), attended a local high school, and today have a diverse group of friends, family, and colleagues with lifestyles that are different than mine. It’s a beautiful thing! No matter the lifestyle each one of us leads, I know that, at times, we all have an uphill battle of stereotypes to fight, which is why I ran for school board.
I sit on a board that has also been labeled, as a result of recent events, but I’d like to state, emphatically, that I don’t stand for any type of bigotry or racism in our schools. I have always been, and will always be, all-encompassing in my acceptance of our diversity.
I am the Milton representative, Area A, for the Cape Henlopen School Board, a position I was elected into 11 months ago. My purpose in running was to help make positive changes in the schools that my children will one day attend. For almost the next two decades, my three children will be attending schools in the Cape district, which is why it is so important for me to make these schools the best that they can be, not only for my children, but for their friends and fellow classmates as well. I want to assure everyone that I am actively working at making a difference in this district. I want our schools to be places where all students feel safe and included, especially in our community, which has a dense population of LGBTQ citizens. I take pride in this diversity.
I want everyone in attendance to know that I fully intend to stand up for these ideals, whether personally or in my capacity as a board member. I look forward to hearing how others feel about this issue following the meeting, and I want the community to feel open to come to me so that I can help develop an inclusive agenda. Please know that my heart is with everyone in our community. I’m with you.
Jessica Tyndal
Cape Henlopen School Board Member
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