The mothers of the Catholic School preschooler denied enrollment in next year’s kindergarten class are speaking out. It turns out they have two children enrolled at the school and, like most things in life, there’s more to this story:

“The lesbian parents of two children rejected from re-enrollment at a Boulder Catholic school say they won’t give up their faith despite their shock and anger at the church.

In a written statement, the women, who asked that their names not be used, said they enrolled their children at Sacred Heart of Jesus parish school because they’re Catholics who regularly attended services at Sacred Heart and baptized their children there.

“When we were allowed to have our children baptized, we made a promise to raise our children in the Catholic faith,” they said. “We now feel like our attempts at fulfilling this promise are being undermined by the church itself.”

A prior post on this story is here. The mothers dispute many of the church’s claims:

“The lesbian couple said in their statement that the decision was a shock because their children had been attending Sacred Heart’s preschool for three years — and they had been open with the school about their sexual orientation.

They said they will continue to attend Catholic services and raise their children as Catholics, though they don’t know if they will go back to Sacred Heart Church. They haven’t been there for two weeks to avoid being the center of attention.

In their statement, the lesbian couple said they’ve never sought approval from the church for their relationship and don’t expect the school to “modify its teachings to accommodate our family.”

“It is wrong to punish a child for who the child’s parents are,” they said in the statement. “We do not think this reflects what Jesus would have done.”

The Archbishop announced his support for the Church’s decision. Meanwhile, local protests continued over the weekend.

– DRJ

A Boulder, Colorado, preschool student won’t be allowed to continue classes next year at a private Catholic preschool but it’s not the student’s fault. It’s because the student’s parents are lesbians whose relationship violates Church beliefs:

“According to teachers at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School, a meeting was held Tuesday to discuss the issue. The staff was told a student would not be allowed to re-enroll because of his or her parents’ sexual orientation. The staff members were also told not to talk to the media.

In a statement sent to 9NEWS, the [Denver] Archdiocese said, “Homosexual couples living together as a couple are in disaccord with Catholic teaching.”

The story apparently became public after staff members disgusted by the decision decided to speak with the media.

– DRJ

UPDATE 3/8/2010 — The Denver Post reports there was a protest outside the church Sunday. In addition, the report includes this background information:

“Inside the church, the Rev. Bill Breslin addressed the issue in his sermon. He also posted his comments on his blog.

“If a child of gay parents comes to our school, and we teach that gay marriage is against the will of God, then the child will think that we are saying their parents are bad,” Breslin said on his blog. “We don’t want to put any child in that tough position.”

DeMelo said the schools do not ask questions about sexual orientation during enrollment, but once they found out, they had to address it according to their policy.

“We’re not trying to weed out people,” DeMelo said. “But when they can’t agree with our Catholic philosophy, it really makes it difficult to be a strong part of the school community; it’s a difficult situation.”

The article says the student is currently a preschooler and has been denied admission to next year’s kindergarten program.

The President of the Detroit Public School Board is a self-described “horrible writer” but he considers that a plus rather than a minus:

“[Otis] Mathis has also worked as a substitute teacher in Detroit schools, which are ranked among the lowest-achieving metropolitan public school districts in the country. But he told the paper his story is about someone who has managed his limitations.

“Instead of telling them that they can’t write and won’t be anything, I show that cannot stop you,” Mathis told the paper. “If Detroit Public Schools can allow kids to dream, with whatever weakness they have, that’s something. … It’s not about what you don’t have. It’s what you can do.”

I applaud his willingness to overcome a failed education but that’s no excuse for poor writing. Wouldn’t it be great if he could set an example by continuing to learn, even as an adult?

– DRJ

A Philadelphia plaintiff alleges a Pennsylvania school district used a school-provided laptop with webcam to remotely activate and take pictures of the student’s home without the knowledge or consent of the student or his parents. Reportedly the school district believed the laptop was stolen or missing.

It sounds very Big Brother-ish but it’s also a novel use of technology. What might a court decide? Orin Kerr starts the discussion.

– DRJ

Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has named Ken Starr its new President:

“Baylor University named former Clinton White House nemesis Kenneth Starr its new president on Monday, saying the one-time independent prosecutor’s Christian ideals and experience heading a law school made him the ideal candidate to lead the world’s largest Baptist university.

Starr, whose investigation of the Whitewater land deal and Monica Lewinsky scandal led to Clinton’s impeachment in the House of Representatives, has been dean of the law school at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., since 2004. He becomes the 14th president of Baylor and follows John M. Lilley, who was fired from the post in 2008.”

Starr is a fifth-generation Texan — proving once again that with the exception of our host, Texans almost always want to come home.

– DRJ

Dr. Amy Bishop, a Harvard-educated research scientist teaching at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, has been charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths yesterday of three colleagues and the wounding of three others. Bishop reportedly had been denied tenure.

Today, Boston area newspapers report Bishop shot and killed her 18-year-old brother two decades ago, but was released in what may have been a bungled or questionable investigation:

“Braintree Police Chief Paul Frazier is now offering a different account of the shooting to The Globe: “Bishop had shot her brother during an argument and was being booked by police when the police chief at the time ordered the booking process stopped and Bishop released to her mother,” the paper reports on its Web site. Records from the case have been missing since 1987.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘coverup,’ but this does not look good,” Frazier said.

Another newspaper, The Boston Herald, is reporting that Bishop also pointed the gun at a passing car after her brother’s shooting.”

Police reportedly found the gun used in yesterday’s shooting in a second floor bathroom. They say Bishop called her husband for a ride and was arrested in the parking lot.

– DRJ

A blogger at the Houston Chronicle’s MomHouston blog is appalled at a letter an elementary school principal wrote and sent to parents of second-graders. The principal claims it was a joke letter sent in error in which he labeled some students lazy or stupid, and complained about accommodations for allergic and other impaired children.

Here’s the letter that I will always remember as the Dead Puppy Letter.

Are you appalled?

– DRJ

Atlas Shrugs reports an Ohio high school — Perry Local in Massillon, Ohio — is allowing Organizing for America to offer internships [and, based on my reading of the materials posted at the link, the internships could be] for credit as a part of or to supplement the school’s curriculum. Go there for the details.

Assuming this story is true, it’s up to the local school board to decide if this is what they want for their schools. If it is, then local Republicans should copy the OfA attachments and demand that its internships be given equal time …

… except the GOP internships should start 2 hours later in the morning and end at the same time.

– DRJ

Some parents at a Crosby, Texas, school objected to a discussion of sex with their 6th, 7th, and 8th grade daughters at a school assembly in which the speaker was scheduled to deliver a motivational talk. They may have good reasons — apparently the discussion was unplanned, unannounced, and graphic:

“At least two parents complained that [Shirley] Price discussed sex, said Randy Dowdy, director of school sports services. “They said it was graphic,” Dowdy recalled. News reports said the discussion included descriptions of how to perform oral and anal sex. Price, speaking through her pastor, declined to comment, but Pastor S.D. Siverand of the Galilee Missionary Baptist Church denied that she told students how to perform sex acts.

The school sent a letter from Superintendent Mike Bergman home with middle-school children Friday apologizing for the talk, which it described as containing “very sensitive and sexually specific information.”

In an ironic twist, it seems the speaker’s message was that the girls should abstain from sex:

“Dowdy acknowledged that sex was discussed, but said that much of the discussion was initiated by students.

Price, who is a trained counselor, learned that girls were being pressured to have sex and she took the opportunity afforded by the Jan. 15 meeting to exhort the children to abstain from sex, Siverand said.

“Someone took it out of that room and took it out of context,” he said. “It was twisted the wrong way.”

Price told the students oral sex is dangerous, he said. When several students said they did not know what it was, Price declined to explain it, Siverand said.

Other children in the room volunteered explanations, he said.

“Anal sex was never mentioned,” Siverand said.”

Parting thoughts: Modern media and culture tell us today’s sixth graders are as knowledgeable about sex as adults, but not all of them are … and doesn’t it seem odd that the school district spokesman is the “director of school sports services,” especially for a topic like this?

– DRJ

“C and L ran off”:

“A spelling prank in a class photo for more than 600 seniors at Cypress Ridge High School led to the suspension of three students.

Some students wore T-shirts spelling out “CLASS” as part of “Class of 2010” in a formal shot.

But in a later informal shot, students representing “C” and “L” moved from the front row, leaving behind a different three-letter word.”

Three students were suspended and five were fined $135 each, presumably the five wearing the letters. I’m not sure whether the “A”, the “S”, the second “S”, or someone else was the third suspended student. Apparently “C” and “L” could not be reached for comment.

– DRJ