High school parents
complain about
"heterosexual
questionnaire"
By AP from
DulutyNewsTribune.com on the Web, May 16, 2006
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. -- About
two dozen parents and community members complained to a high school principal
after two teachers there approved the release of a "heterosexual questionnaire"
designed to raise awareness of gay-based issues.
The 10-question survey included questions such as, "What do you think caused
your heterosexuality?" and "When did you decide you were heterosexual?"
The survey was given to about 400 of Port Washington High School's 930 students,
principal Duane Woelfel said. It happened on April 25, the eve of the
national Day of Silence, an annual event co-sponsored by the New York City-based
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.
Woelfel said he didn't know about the survey until a parent gave him a copy the
next day.
"We were extremely concerned when we found out about it, and we're going to make
sure that it doesn't happen again," Woelfel said.
The student organization Students for Unity distributed the questionnaire and
led a class discussion on it with the approval of two teachers. Students
in class were asked to submit written answers and discuss the survey.
The message behind the survey was presumably that "students who have an
alternative lifestyle get asked these questions every day, so please be
considerate. It was an exercise in compassion and understanding that did
not work out real well," Woelfel said.
The survey violated school policy because parents weren't given the opportunity
in advance to decide whether their children should participate, Woelfel said.
State Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said Tuesday she plans to reintroduce
a bill that would in part prohibit such surveys from schools if the answers have
to be written down.
The measure, introduced in 2001, passed the Assembly but not the Senate, Darling
said. She said she will reintroduce the bill sometime after the next
legislative session starts in January.
The school is investigating the incident and will, along with the
superintendent's office, decide whether to discipline the two teachers, Woelfel
said.
Woelfel, who identified the two teachers as Julie Grudzinski and Sarah Olson,
described them as "very remorseful." Grudzinski did not immediately return
a message left at school Tuesday by The Associated Press. The school said
Olson was not at work Tuesday, and her home telephone number was unlisted.
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