Apr 23, 2015 3 min read

McGuffey School District officials responded to the controversy surrounding the high school after a group of students last week held an “Anti-Gay Day.”

In the district’s response, dated Tuesday and published on the district’s website, officials said “inaccuracies reported by the media are embellishing the situation.”

“McGuffey did not authorize an ‘Anti-Gay Day.’ A small group of students, not the hundreds that some reports inflated, exercised their rights as citizens to express their viewpoints. Readers and viewers picked up part of the story from news media, allowed emotion to cloud judgment and initiated a large-scale campaign against our district,” the response said.

McGuffey Superintendent Erica Kolat did not return calls for comment Thursday afternoon. The district was thrust into the national spotlight April 16 after reports surfaced that a group of students held an “Anti-Gay Day” in protest of the National Day of Silence, an annual event intended to bring attention to the bullying of the gay and lesbian community in schools.

Social media sites were full of accounts of students wearing flannel shirts and writing messages like “anti-gay” on their hands. There were also accounts of physical altercations and name-calling.

In the response, the district said it authorized the McGuffey High School Gay-Straight Alliance Club to participate in the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network’s “Day of Silence” activity April 15.

“This day of silence was to raise awareness of the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and discrimination,” the response said.

The district acknowledged that it has allowed pervious days of silence in the past for other causes, and that all of the events followed the same procedures.

An investigation was launched following the reports. The district said a reported “lynch list” has failed to surface, and that it would maintain student confidentiality and would not release student information or discipline records.

“Students on both sides of this issue are working with administrators and school police to ensure a safe learning environment at McGuffey High School,” the response said.

The district said it is providing counseling services for those who need it and is reviewing policies associated with bullying/cyberbullying, unlawful harassment and assessing the cultural needs of the student body.

Representatives of Washington County Gay Straight Alliance have been attending McGuffey school board meetings for months after learning that people were coming before the board and making comments in opposition to the school’s GSA.

Kathy Cameron, chairwoman of Washington County Gay Straight Alliance, did not return calls for comment.