Md. student faces disciplinary action over ‘homophobic’ club
The principal at a Montgomery County, Md. middle school on Feb. 10 sent a letter to parents disclosing that a teacher found on a student’s laptop computer a proposal to form a “Homophobic Club Hub” at the school. “Our investigation found that the student shared the documents with at least two additional students prior to deleting them,” according to the letter written by Heidi L.
Statcoff, the principal at Earle B. Wood Middle School in Rockville, Md. “We found no evidence that any other students participated in generating the documents, and no evidence that a club was formed,” Statcoff said in her letter. “This is clearly a hate/bias incident, and I must say that discrimination in any form cannot be tolerated,” the letter continues. “While students who commit this unacceptable act will receive consequences as per Montgomery County Public Schools Student Code of Conduct, it is important that we continue our work with our students to help them understand the impact of hateful and hurtful words,” Statcoff wrote.
She said in the coming week counselors would be going into classes to “conduct lessons on topics of bias and discrimination” and administrators and counselors would continue to “reinforce and reiterate our expectations around bullying and harassment.” Jessica Baxter, a spokesperson for Montgomery County Schools, declined a request by the Washington Blade for the specific disciplinary action that school officials would take against the student or students involved in the “Homophobic Club Hub” proposal, saying the school system’s privacy policy prevents the release of that information.
Baxter said the school system itself released this statement in response to the “Homophobic” club matter: “MCPS remains steadfast in
