S.F. schools consider costly gay support program

S.F. schools consider costly gay support program:

"With everything from art classes, summer school and jobs on the chopping block this year, the San Francisco school board will decide this week whether to greatly expand school services, support and instruction on issues of sexual orientation"



The decision could cost the school district, which is facing a $113 million budget shortfall over the next two years, at least $120,000 a year - enough cash to cover the salaries of two classroom teachers.
The school board is expected to vote Tuesday on the fiscally controversial resolution calling for San Francisco Unified to add a new full-time staffer to manage "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning" youth issues in the district's Student Support Services Department.
It also would require the district to track harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation and distribute an educational packet to parents, encouraging them to discuss "the issues of sexuality, gender identity and safety" with their children.
That commitment probably would cost about $90,000 a year for the staffer and maybe another $30,000 for the rest.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/08/BAF71BT9AP.DTL#ixzz0f3OlXZTz