On a day where silence was the goal, a lot of voices could be
heard.
Gilroy – On a day where silence was the goal, a lot of voices could be heard.
A number of Gilroy High School’s Gay Straight Alliance members and their supporters participated in a nationally recognized event called Day of Silence, which encouraged participants to refrain from speaking. Their silence symbolizes the oppression gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals feel every day.
The demonstration included about four teachers and eight students, said Principal Bob Bravo. In a school of 2,400 that may not seem significant. However, it’s not the number of participants that has school officials concerned, but the impact those individuals have on the rest of the student body.
“This type of activity impacts educational instruction, the free speech rights of students and staff and employee abilities to express their beliefs,” said Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Edwin Diaz.
“From my perspective, I support this type of demonstration of support and belief, especially when it comes to civil rights – but where the line becomes blurry is that demonstration of support and our ability to meet the needs of educational instruction.”
School officials must decipher whether limiting the Day of Silence demonstration is in violation of the students and teachers’ right to freedom of speech, or whether the activity brings politics into the classroom by allowing teachers to participate and impedes the educational process.
While the activity is a club sponsored event and not something that required approval from the school board, it may contravene some school board policies.
“The classroom isn’t intended as a political forum,” said GUSD school board member Tom Bundros. “In the classroom there is an element of coercion – students have to go to class. And as such, there are certain expectations there. There is an element of coercion that is bound to occur.”
Because students are required to attend class, they can’t choose whether they want to be exposed to the teachers participating in the Day of Silence – and this is what has some board members opposing the activity during classtime.
“There’s no way, whether there’s limited talking or no talking (by teachers), that it doesn’t affect the learning process,” said board member Rhoda Bress. “Anything that impacts the educational process is significant.”
What further complicates the issue is that they aren’t actually talking about the issue – they’re remaining quiet.
Principal Bravo explained how the students and faculty participating actually handled the day’s events.
“I had one kid who didn’t speak during second period, but then had choir class and wanted to participate,” he said. The faculty members participating also spoke on what he perceived to be a flexible basis. A few of the teachers had already scheduled tests for Wednesday so talking was already going to be limited.
“I can understand people’s concerns – they’re reasonable,” he said. “But I expect there to be teaching and learning going on. If I go into a classroom, and the teacher’s not talking, but there is teaching and learning going on, fine. But if I go into a classroom and the teacher’s not talking and the kids are off task – I’m going to ask that teacher to correct the situation.”
Diaz applauded Bravo’s response to the day and stressed the importance of speaking, if necessary.
“If there’s a teacher supporting Day of Silence and there is a circumstance that arises and they have no way of not breaking that silence and giving a full explanation – then I think that explanation takes precedence in the classroom,” Diaz said.
GSA advisor Sally Enriquez participated in Day of Silence and explained Monday that teachers were going to be flexible in their silence.
She explained that the same flexibility occurred last year: “A couple of teachers tried not to speak, but because of the lesson they were teaching they had to.”
A problem some officials had with the Day of Silence was a concern that it would open doors for similar events in the future.
“I think people might underestimate how truly difficult it is to be quiet all day,” Bravo said. “It takes a lot of dedication. I do not foresee a cascading effect – I haven’t seen it yet.”
The GSA held the same event last year and no other group has organized such a demonstration since.
The school board expects to have a conversation on how this type of activity will be run in the future – but there is no easy solution.
“Frankly, most people want me to say it’s either this way or it isn’t,” Diaz said. “And it’s just not that type of situation.”
