District not first to modify its policy

But Bentonville plan controversial

BENTONVILLE — A suggestion to modify the School District’s anti-discrimination policy has generated controversy, but Bentonville wouldn’t be the first district in the state to protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Grant Lightle, a School Board member, requested the board consider adding those two categories to the list protected under the district’s policy. He also asked for marital and parental status and veterans to be included. That would bring the district’s policy in line with that of the University of Arkansas, he said.

Michael Poore, district superintendent, likely will present more information on a possible policy change at the board’s next meeting Monday. The board isn’t expected to make a decision on the matter, however, until at least the May 18 meeting.

More than a dozen people used time allotted for public comment during the April 20 meeting to argue against the policy change. They cited various reasons. Some said it wasn’t unnecessary, given the lack of evidence of discrimination. Others said they were uncomfortable with the thought of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender values being passed on to children.

Fayetteville’s School District adopted a policy in 2012 not to discriminate in offering access to employment on the basis of “sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression,” along with other classes commonly protected.

That language was recommended by the board’s former attorney, Rudy Moore, who died two years ago, said Alan Wilbourn, the Fayetteville district’s public information officer. The board approved it unanimously. Wilbourn said he wasn’t aware of any complaints from the public about the policy.

The Russellville School District states on its website employees and applicants will be treated “without regard to age, sex, color, religion, race, national origin, citizenship, veteran status, current or future military status, sexual orientation, gender identification, marital or familial status, physical or mental disability, legal source of income or any other status protected by law.”

Bentonville’s policy prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, gender, national origin, age or disability. The Springdale and Rogers school districts’ policies are similar to Bentonville’s, except they also include marital status.

Lightle wasn’t swayed by arguments he heard during the April 20 meeting against the policy change he’s suggested.

“It made me feel even more strongly that we absolutely need it,” Lightle said.

Lightle said he has received feedback from staff members who have concerns about how their private lives might be evaluated by co-workers. They feel they’re not on a level playing field, he said.

“I think there is a real risk depending on who a person might work for or work with that they might be judged unfairly and not on their individual merits,” he said.

Lightle also pointed out Missouri prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in all public employment. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon created that prohibition through an executive order in 2010.

Lightle works as an attorney for Wal-Mart, which like most large employers has adopted the kind of anti-discrimination policy he has proposed. But he said no one at Wal-Mart asked him to propose the change.

Rebecca Powers, another Bentonville board member, opposes altering the policy. After hearing public comments, she requested a vote to shut down exploration of the change. The board voted 4-2 against Powers’ request.

Powers said she believes in equal rights for all employees but is afraid of unintended consequences a new policy could bring.

Many parents are concerned about the possible impact on the district’s curriculum, such as what textbooks are chosen, what events are promoted, and what books are made available in the school libraries, she said.

In addition, many parents have told her they don’t want a man who identifies as a transgender woman to be able to use private female facilities alongside their daughters.

“We have to also consider that a female teacher or staff member may not feel comfortable sharing a room on an overnight educational or training trip with a biological male who identifies as transgender female,” Powers wrote in an email. “Yet, if she complained, since this is official school policy, she could potentially be penalized in her position.”

The policy also raises freespeech concerns, she said.

“If employees on their own time express their own opinions about private sexual behavior in a way that contradicts the official Bentonville Schools policy, will they be penalized for doing so? I think that this policy change presents more questions than answers to many of my constituents,” Powers wrote.

The University of Arkansas added sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy in 1991. Gender identity was added in August after an executive order from President Barack Obama, according to Steve Voorhies, a university spokesman.

Obama’s executive order outlawed federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. In response, the University of Arkansas System advised all UA campuses to amend their nondiscrimination policies to include “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” if they executed a federal contract valued at more than $10,000.

Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville also bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Wendi Cadle, the college’s human resources director, said she wasn’t sure when that language was introduced, but it came about to make it more consistent with the federal Title IX recommended language.