Ensure safety, respect.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Maybe it's time to shelve the word "diversity." To some, "diversity" is code for the forced acceptance of everyone's lifestyle, heritage and ideas except their own. If the Springfield School District's diversity committee had instead been known only by its formal name, the Safety and Respect for All Committee, it might have made more progress in a shorter time. Surely everyone would cooperate to reach the committee's goal of ensuring that Springfield schools are safe, respectful and conducive to learning.

Instead, the committee has endured a protracted and sometimes bitter struggle to craft a diversity plan. The committee came into being last year after its predecessor was dissolved; conservative parents and community members complained that its recommendations went too far toward encouraging acceptance of homosexuality. Superintendent Nancy Golden appointed the new committee, a 26-member group that included critics of the first. With the help of a facilitator, the committee completed six drafts of a proposed diversity policy. The facilitator, with the support of all but three committee members, said last week that the sixth draft would be the last.

Like most compromises, the finished product is not fully satisfactory to anyone; like most documents produced by committees, it has some awkward phrasing. It recommends that the Springfield School Board amend district policies and the student handbook, if necessary, to prohibit harassment and discrimination "based on any condition that makes students diverse or different." That covers everything from eye color to taste in music.

The draft goes on to note that conditions that have caused harassment in the past include race and sexual orientation. It then further states that the school board will not adopt policies or curricula that "promote or advocate" one group over any other.

The recommendation nods in so many directions that the committee members' necks must be sore. But it actually does a good job of incorporating opposing views. The draft acknowledges the fact that any student identified as gay or lesbian is vulnerable to discrimination and harassment, while also allaying suspicions that efforts to oppose such treatment would result in legitimizing homosexuality to the point of advocacy. An effective policy to protect gay-identified students from the real danger of physical and emotional attack needs the support of community members who frown on homosexuality - indeed, it needs their support most of all. This proposal might get it.

The draft also includes a number of useful recommendations for combating bullying in general, such as a system for tracking incidents and training staff members to respond effectively to the needs of students from varied backgrounds. The school board will receive the committee's report next month, and will invite the public to express its opinions on the committee's work after the start of the school year.

It's encouraging that such a heterogeneous group could continue working together to produce a carefully worded document that comes close to satisfying most members' concerns. The very existence of a diversity proposal is evidence of an open-mindedness that is often lacking in discussions of such matters as homosexuality. But perhaps the school board and the community, as they evaluate the committee's report, shouldn't think of it as a diversity proposal. It's a plan for ensuring that all students are safe and respected - a goal everyone presumably shares.