Steamboat School District: One Discrimination Suit Down, One on Deck

Written by Kerri Fullwiththisstory Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Superintendent Mêlée Stunningham and the Steamboat School District responded to another lawsuit today with shocked cries of, "Not in our town!" "We have very progressive policies regarding aesthetic tolerance in our District," rebutted an affronted Stunningham after hearing the specifics of the lawsuit.

The case, filed by the parents of a Steamboat Springs Dance Showcase member demands that the district immediately implement policies that enable students to "receive their education in an environment that is not aesthetically hostile" and to "protect students and parents who bring allegations of aesthetic hostility to the school district from retaliation." The twelve-page document details the history of the "deliberate indifference to student-on-student harassment," citing instances of "inappropriate rubbing" and the use of inappropriate terminology and disparaging nicknames as creating a hostile learning environment.

The community-at-large responded with cries of protest and bafflement. "There is no evidence of institutional anti-aesthetism here in Steamboat," said one confused citizen, who declined to be identified. "I mean what do they want? A day off school to honor Martha Graham? A ballet-awareness program? Green Circle for dance? We're not in the business of discrimination here, we just want to go about our daily lives."