Business continued as usual at Delta County’s School Board meeting last week despite the anti-transgender comments board member Katherine Svenson made weeks ago, drawing national attention. Even though the rash claims made by Svenson, calling for the castration of transgender students, was picked up by national news publications like The Huffignton Post, the board seemed content with sweeping the embarrassing mishap under the rug. As any LGBTQ student who grew up in Delta County will tell you, that’s nothing new.

Delta County schools have a rich history of ignoring the needs and concerns of its LGBTQ students, safe from national scrutiny due to their relative seclusion from social pressures present in larger metropolis areas. Maybe the administration refuses to believe there are a significant number of LGBTQ students in the small agricultural community, and thus, there isn’t a need to rectify discriminatory and destructive behavior. That certainly seems to be the opinion of Svenson, who denies the notion of transgender identity entirely.

To address public outrage, assistant superintendent Kurt Clay told the Post, “We are not discriminatory. We welcome all students in our schools.” It was certainly a nice political gesture, but considering the nature of public schools, the claim was nothing but redundant. By refusing to adequately address the issue, Clay and other school board officials are sending a much more troublesome message that hateful comments from school administration regarding the sexual orientation of students are tolerated and will continue to go unpunished.

Granted, rural school districts like Delta County are continuously low on funding, and a recall election would likely cost the schools more than they could afford, but continuing on as if nothing had ever happened isn’t the solution. If the board fails to remove Svenson for her unjustifiable comments, they should at least make a genuine effort to apologize to the LGBTQ community and switch their focus from a reactionary stance to a proactive one. Educating students on LGBTQ history is long overdue, and delivering anti-harrasment presentations to students would be a great first step. Setting a precedent prohibiting school faculty and administration from engaging in hateful conversation also seems like a no-brainer.

Delta School Board members should seriously consider reviewing their mission statement, which includes providing “a safe and caring environment for all students and faculty” lest impressionable youth who already face ample discrimination from peers take Svenson literally, and join the countless other innocent students who have resorted to self-mutilation or suicide to deal with their identity dilemmas.

cferganc@mavs.coloradomesa.edu