A School That Discriminates

In his December 2005 article, “Homosexual Activism Meets Catholic Kindergarten,” Michael S. Rose reported on the case of St. John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa, Calif., where two homosexual men had enrolled two of their four adopted children in that Catholic school’s kindergarten. The homosexual couple attended Mass at the parish, and were given jobs at the school. When concerned parents urged the school to ask the couple to remove their children from the kindergarten, the school responded by threatening the concerned parents! The parents were made to either apologize to the school principal or remove their own students from the school. Not the outcome Catholics would expect from a Catholic school.

Up the highway from Costa Mesa in Ontario, Calif., a similar situation presented itself at a Calvinist high school, the Ontario Christian School. Tina Clark and Mitzi Gray, a lesbian couple, had enrolled Tina’s 14-year-old daughter, Shay Clark, as a freshman for the 2005-2006 school year. In early September, Shay was disciplined for leading an unauthorized cheer at a school athletic event, and the school principal summoned Shay to a conference, and requested the presence of Shay’s parents. The principal realized something was amiss when Mitzi, and not Tina, showed up. The next day, both Mitzi and Tina were called in to meet with the principal, who asked them point-blank if they were gay. Whoa!

When they answered that indeed they were, the principal expelled Shay.

The school’s superintendent, Len Stob, released this statement to the media: Shay’s “family does not meet admissions criteria. The ministry of Ontario Christian is to promote discipleship of Jesus Christ as defined by the Bible and consistent with historical Christianity. The school forms a voluntary partnership with parents who seek the same discipleship…. We regret that [Tina and Mitzi’s] relationship was not disclosed at the time of admission, as that information would have prevented enrollment….” Bravo!

Based on a clause in Ontario Christian’s board of trustees rulebook, students’ parents must not engage in behavior “considered by the school as immoral or inconsistent with a positive Christian lifestyle, such as cohabiting without marriage or in a homosexual relationship.” So Ontario Christian was well within its rights to expel Shay for the sins of her “parents.”