Nothing should surprise us about the Grossmont Union High School Board. Its five-member board, consisting of five religious conservatives, has made it clear that it will not tolerate “toleration.”

I wrote recently how the board rejected an offer to settle a lawsuit from the victims of a school shooting by simply agreeing to host a forum on tolerance. I also reported how the district promotes abstinence almost exclusively, despite a state law mandating “comprehensive sexual education.” And despite a state law that prohibits disseminating misleading information to students, the district gives a religiously affiliated speaker an exclusive assembly to tell students that “condoms are not effective” in preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Now, according to a report in the Union-Tribune, Melinda Oliver, a social science teacher at West Hills High School (Santee), indicates that school officials tried to prevent her from even mentioning same-sex relations during a class unit on teen dating violence.

Oliver, who has been teaching about domestic violence for years in “life management” classes (geared toward 9th-graders), used some materials from the Love Is Not Abuse program. Groups like Break the Cycle and the Education Development Center developed the materials, which include poetry, short stories and other sources to raise awareness of teen dating violence. The lesson plan tells teachers to “mention that dating violence happens in both male-female and same-sex relationships, and that it affects people of all races, religions and cultures, regardless of how much money they have or the neighborhood they live in.”

Apparently, when school officials got wind that “same-sex relationships” would be mentioned (in any context), they told her not to discuss it. So she told her 9th-grade students that teen dating violence happens in “any relationship.” When some asked if that included gay and lesbian relationships, she answered yes.

During lunch period, she and Laura Preble, a teacher who advises the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance club, distributed material about domestic-violence awareness.

Oliver said she wasn’t promoting homosexuality, only awareness that violence is common in all relationships.

That’s it. No discussion about sexual acts, sexuality, or advocacy for gay rights. She just acknowledged that there are persons in same-sex relationships.

Here comes Hurricane Katrina.

Oliver said her school principal told her that Grossmont Superintendent Terry Ryan was uncomfortable with the same-sex reference in the curriculum and that it was something the district’s board would not accept. Catherine Martin, spokesperson for the Grossmont Union High School District, told the U-T, “If the principal expressed concerns about content to his teacher, he must be concerned that the curriculum might delve into an area of controversial issues. We have a policy to deal with controversial topics. The principal has the responsibility to judge whether items discussed in the classroom comply with that policy.”

Martin said Oliver did not get necessary approval from the school or the district to teach the curriculum. She said Ryan’s discussion with the principal focused on the use of an unapproved curriculum, and that the district only learned of the lesson plan after a reporter inquired about it. “We have very specific guidelines for approving curriculum,” she said, adding that teen violence in personal relationships is already covered in the life management skills course.

The First Amendment allows teachers “academic freedom” to pick materials they feel will help students understand curricular objectives. In a recent case, a teacher was fired after she invited actor Woody Harrelson to speak to her class about industrial hemp. The court held that the firing violated her freedom of speech. She had the right to pick a speaker to present facts about industrial uses for hemp. And the matter touched on a major social concern.

California law also makes it clear that schools may not discriminate against anyone with regard to sexual orientation in any way.

Under the First Amendment, Oliver’s speech is completely protected. She wasn’t making a curricular change; she simply added completely lawful materials to her class.