The Anti-Defamation League has requested an opportunity to address the school board in Wheatland, WY at its next public meeting on February 15th, urging the board to reverse its decision to prohibit banners for ADL’s No Place For Hate® program.

The Platte County School District #1 Board of Trustees voted 4-3 in January to remove banners for the Anti-Defamation League‘s No Place For Hate® campaign from two Wheatland schools because the banners contained the name of the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, one of the program’s three major sponsors. In a Feb. 3 letter to the board, ADL Mountain States Regional Director Bruce H. DeBoskey requested time at the school board’s Feb. 15 meeting to clarify the program’s purposes and content and urged the school board to reverse its decision.

The school board has yet to respond to DeBoskey’s letter.

DeBoskey noted in his letter that the No Place for Hate® program was developed to counter bullying and to insure that schools are welcoming, safe and respectful places for all students.  In the letter, DeBoskey stated:

“…Since hate and intolerance are learned values, effective programs in schools can help teach young people the values of diversity, respect and inclusiveness for all.  When bullying and bigotry are reduced, students feel safer, attendance increases and the opportunities for learning are enhanced….

“Our region’s No Place for Hate® program is not imposed on school districts from the outside.  Rather, each individual school crafts its own set of activities, to meet its own, unique community needs…. No two programs are identical; local participants shaped the program to fit the needs and environment of each school within the broad guidelines of the program….

“There is no ‘hidden agenda’ in the No Place for Hate® program.  It is about respect for all students, of all races, religions, ethnicity, ability, and sexual orientation.  It does indeed include respect for students who are gay or lesbian, but it is equally about students who use wheelchairs, or were born in a foreign country, or who are of a majority faith or a minority faith. It is about making them all feel included and safe in school.”

Wheatland High School and West Elementary School were two of 25 Colorado and Wyoming schools participating in the program until the board’s decision. The removal of the banners at the Wheatland schools prompted ADL to stop the program there.  ADL explained its action in a Jan. 22 letter to the Board: “[t]o continue our program in light of your decision would be the height of hypocrisy, turning a blind eye to intolerance and repudiating the principles of inclusivity and respect that our program teaches.” Both schools had been enrolled in the program, and the banners were hanging at the schools, since spring, 2009.

A Jan. 22 ADL news release on the issue is available at http://regions.adl.org/mountain-states/news/anti-defamation-league-2.html.