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Osseo School District continues to fight gay student group
For nearly three years the two students who sued the Osseo School District were only known in the lawsuit by their initials. Wednesday, they made themselves known in the very high school they claim did the discriminating. "We spent a long time trying not to have a lawsuit. We didn't really want to sue the school. We were trying to work it out with them and have them hear our issues, it didn't work out," plaintiff Natalie Durivage said. In a public forum at Maple Grove High School the former students, Natalie Durivage and Heather Woodson explained to current students and community members why they sued. They claim the Osseo School District violated the equal access act when the district would not allow their group, straights and gays for equality, or SAGE, to meet as a curricular school organization. That means meeting on school time and using bulletin boards and the PA system to announce their activities. "I believe we were discriminated against because we are a GLBT organization," Durivage said. The district fought back, saying SAGE is a non-curricular group, meaning its mission is not related to school curriculum. "We need to control who can talk to students and how they can talk to them because we could have groups like the KKK come in then and if we no longer have any right to decide if that is an appropriate curricular or not, that is where we run into trouble," Osseo District spokesman Pat Brink said. The former student's legal team is working pro bono but the district, already in financial difficulty, is paying its lawyers. So far, the district admits, hundreds of thousands of dollars. All of that in the midst of announcing last week that two elementary schools will close, and 200 staff, district wide, will be laid off because of budget problems. "During the levy people did say why don't we quit but it comes down to the basic issue that we believe it's worth going to continue legal arguments over what is curricular and what is not curricular activity in a group," Brink said. This whole issue truly surrounds the idea of curricular and non-curricular groups. The SAGE folks say they just want equal treatment. For instance, synchronized swimming and cheerleading were deemed curricular and it can be argued those aren't clubs that lend themselves to the curriculum, much like SAGE. Right now, SAGE can meet as a curricular group because a federal judge has sided with them. The district is appealing that decision.
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