Paso Robles students must get parents’ OK to join school clubs. Some say that’s discriminatory
Paso Robles students must get parents’ permission to participate in on-campus clubs in a newly enforced policy that critics say is discriminatory.
It has members of the LGBTQ community afraid the process could out students who may not have revealed their sexual orientation.
By Oct. 3, the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District will require students to get permission slips signed by their parents or guardians allowing them to attend club meetings. This means that a student cannot be a member of a club without signed permission from their parent or guardian, except in certain circumstances.
The Paso Robles school district’s policy isn’t new — it was established at least two decades ago — but the clauses requiring parent or guardian permission to participate have not been enforced, according to district staff.
Of the four largest school districts in the county, including Lucia Mar, San Luis Coastal and Atascadero — Paso Robles is the only one to enforce such a policy.
The Paso Robles school district’s policy goes beyond the California School Boards Association’s recommendation, which does not require parental permission for student participation in clubs.
Those at Paso Robles High School who are familiar with the policy told The Tribune that they think it will prevent kids from freely participating in school activities and will unduly burden school staff and students.
“In my 25 years at the district, this has never been enforced,” said Geoffrey Land, a teacher and club adviser at Paso Robles High. “It brings up a question of First Amendment rights, freedom of assembly. Do students have the right to assemble without their parents’ signed permission?”
The policy impacts all school clubs, from groups dealing with robotics, anime, billiards and beach cleanup to drama and creative writing clubs.
It also affects the Black Student Union, Activist Coalition of Tomorrow (ACT) and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán (MEChA), as well as the Conservative Club, which discusses politics, and the Equity Club, which aims to create a safe space for LGBTQ students.
Curt Dubost, Paso Robles school district superintendent, said enforcing the policy was raised after some parents expressed concern about their students’ involvement in a club.
“Parents (were) concerned their minor student was choosing to take a leadership role with which they disagreed and had not been, in their opinion, adequately informed,” Dubost wrote to The Tribune in an email. He did not name the specific club.
Exceptions to the policy may be granted on a case-by-case basis, according to Dubost.
Students who are concerned about receiving a parent or guardian’s permission to participate in a certain club may be required to consult with a school counselor or administration to determine whether an exception could be granted.
Paso Robles High teachers who spoke to The Tribune anonymously for fear of retribution said they were concerned about the policy’s effect on already overloaded counselors and administrators.
Although the district has received COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government to increase counseling services at the school, those counselors are facing more demand than ever, according to the teachers.
Staffers are concerned that the policy will cause some students to become fearful of attending the clubs they want to participate in because their parents may disapprove.
Specifically, those involved with the Equity Club are worried about the potential negative impact it could have on the high school’s LGBTQ+ student body.
“If a student isn’t comfortable with outing themselves (as LGBTQ), it isn’t the job of the school to out the student for them,” Land said. “That’s a conversation to be held on the student’s terms whenever they’re ready.”
Enforcement of the district’s parent permission policy will come just over a year after a Paso Robles High student ripped an LGBTQ Pride flag off a teacher’s classroom wall and later posted a video on TikTok of himself defecating on the flag after trying to flush it down a toilet.
Shortly after that, the district implemented a new classroom policy banning flags larger than 2 by 2 feet and any flags that were alterations of the American flag.
Since that September 2021 incident, members of the LGBTQ community in the Paso Robles school district say they’ve felt attacked and belittled by the administration and school board.
In early August, the Paso Robles Unified school board discussed possibly rolling back extra bullying protections for LGBTQ students. Those discussions were tabled after heavy protests from community members.
Later the same month, the school board approved a resolution protecting the use of “traditional” gender-specific language in its schools — although that language was not in danger of being banned.
The board had the opportunity to approve another resolution on Sept. 13 protecting the use of “any titles and pronouns, whether gender or non-gender specific,” the resolution read.
However, the resolution failed to pass and some board members said during the Sept. 13 meeting that the resolution was a waste of time, unnecessary and that the board needed to focus on education-specific matters.
LGBTQ+ task force students worried about policy
Students on the Paso Robles school district’s LGBTQ+ task force — formed after the Pride flag incident — said they were not consulted by district administration about enforcing the permission slip policy.
Israel Pérez, a senior at Paso Robles High and a member of nine clubs, said that if he weren’t already openly gay to his parents, bringing home a permission slip for the Equity Club would be uncomfortable.
“My mom would have an issue with me being in the Equity Club,” he said. “I would have to explain why I’m in it, perhaps being closeted, or have to come out right then.”
Pérez added that he’s worried the policy will cause students to either forge their parents’ signatures or drop out of the club altogether.
He noted that the Equity Club is some students’ only safe space to freely express themselves as members or allies of the LGBTQ community.
“The policy is stupid,” he said. “We have the right of assembly, and this could take that away.”
Dubost noted via email that enforcing the permission slip policy may not be enough.
“Some districts in their annual notice to parents list all school-sanctioned clubs authorized on the campus and invite parents to notify the school of any for which they decline parental permission,” he wrote. “That is an option we will be reviewing for possible future adoption. At present, however, this is our existing regulation, which I believe we are reasonably enforcing including the aforementioned exception for a counseling referral.”
