In Oregon, IL, Elementary school teacher coordinates LGBTQ recess group without any parental consent or awareness

As first reported by Awake Illinois, an Oregon Community Unit School District 220, an elementary school teacher created an LGBTQ alternative recess for fifth and sixth grade students. Parents were not notified or even made aware of this group, and no parental consent was required for these children to attend this programming.

“It was started as a place for students who feel like they are not accepted and want to find a group who supports them,” the teacher wrote in an email to school staff. “These are students who are questioning their identity as gender or orientation.”

The teacher then mentioned in the email that the “LGBTQ based alternative recess” accrued nearly 40 students across fifth and sixth grade.

In this same email, the teacher also included that she was unsure why students would need a permission form for this recess “since it is not counseling or instruction.”

On Wednesday, February 8th, the superintendent gave an update on the situation, stating that administrators “explained to Mrs. Garncarz that while we support all of out students, it would be inappropriate for the school creating an LBGTQ+ group. The students can seek to create groups but teachers cannot impromptu create groups.”