District backs down on gender discrimination.

The Westminster (Calif.) School District narrowly averted a financial disaster in April when the Board of Trustees reluctantly agreed to update its discrimination policy to reflect state mandates against gender discrimination. Of more than 1,000 school districts across the state, Westminster was the only one to refuse to adopt a state policy that would allow students and teachers to define their own gender when making a civil rights complaint. Three trustees, the majority of the board, rejected the law because they said it would compromise their Christian principles, drawing the ire of people across the community.

However, the state threatened to withhold millions of dollars in state and federal funding for education if the board did not comply. "We are relieved that the students will continue to receive the funding needed for their education," says Molly O'Shaughnessy, director of the California Sale Schools Coalition.

Jack O'Connell, California superintendent of public instruction, issued a stern warning to the three trustees, urging them to remain true to the state's strict anti-discrimination policies. He said the board is technically in compliance, but said he has "grave doubts as to the sincerity of the board's actions."

"I want to again express my disappointment that those who took an oath to educate children would abuse their elected positions and attempt to flout the law. This sets a destructive example for our children and is contrary to the democratic values of our society. Our children deserve better," O'Connell wrote in a letter to the board.

According to a 2004 report by the coalition, half of the students surveyed felt their schools weren't sale for "guys who aren't as masculine as other guys," and a third felt that their schools were unsafe for "girls who aren't as feminine as other girls," O'Shaughnessy says.