PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
End Sex Segregated Classes Based on Harmful Gender Stereotypes
  1. Signatures
    317 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Board Member (+ 7 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Board Member (Bill Searle)
      • Vice President, Vermilion Parish School Board (Angela Faulk)
      • President, Vermilion Parish School Board (Dexter J. Callahan)
      • Board Member (Ricky LeBouef)
      • Board Member (Charles Campbell)
      • Board Member (Chris Mayard)
      • Board Member (Ricky J. Broussard)
      • Principal, Rene A. Rost Middle School (David Dupuis)
  2. Created By
    Alex DiBranco
    New York, NY
About this Petition Petition Letter

The Rene A. Rost Middle School in Louisiana thinks girls learn better by sitting down and shutting up.

Without parental consent, Principal David Dupuis first began segregating lunch, recess, and bus lines by sex, then moved on to math and English classes.

Boys were expected to enjoy debate; girls to sit quietly and observe.

Boys were given books inspiring them to be adventurous and independent; girls were given books presenting negative consequences to female independence and pushing them to rely on a male love interest instead.

To support his sex segregation agenda, Principal Dupuis faked results to demonstrate academic and behavioral benefits to single-sex classes, when in fact there were no visible behavioral changes and test scores actually went down.

Parents who tried to elect a coed option were coerced, ignored, or their children were placed in a special needs class, the only "coed option" offered.

A former president of the American Psychological Association has testified that this curriculum causes real and irreversible harm to children.

Tell Principal Dupuis and the Vermilion Parish school board to stop perpetuating gender stereotypes and adversely impacting their children.

Recent Signatures

Stop Harmful Sex Segregation at Rene A. Rost Middle School

Dear Principal Dupuis and Members of the Board,

It has come to my attention that Rene A. Rost Middle School in the Vermilion School District has implemented a harmful program of sex segregation that has negatively impacted student scores and is based on unsound gender stereotypes.

An ACLU lawsuit has revealed 1. That Principal Dupuis presented inaccurate data to the Vermilion School Board alleging false benefits to an experiment in single-sex courses, which occurred without parental permission. Not only is there no evidence that academics or behavior improved (as has now been admitted), an expert analysis actually demonstrates that test scores decreased.

2. When parental consent was finally sought, the only coed "option" was a special needs course. Furthermore, parents report being coerced by Principal Dupuis into electing single-sex classes instead, or simply having their wishes ignored.

3. The justification given to Principal Dupuis for these courses were based on the harmful stereotypical assumption that boys prefer debate and that girls are better off sitting quietly and observing, a clearly detrimental way of approaching girls learning in particular.

4. The books given in the segregated classes reinforced the idea that boys should be adventurous and independent, but that these qualities were negative in a girl and she should rely on male support instead.

5. A former president of the American Psychological Association has testified that this segregation does real and permanent harm to children, increasing anxiety, deterring girls from pursuing math studies, and increasing bullying of student who deviate from the learned gender stereotypes.

While the court battle runs on, I ask you to do the right thing for students in the Vermilion School Distract, recognize the misleading data that fueled the decision to make Rene A. Rost primarily single-sex, and remedy this immediately. The 2009-2010 school year cannot no longer be saved, but I ask the Board and Principal Dupuis to please issue a decision that harmful single-sex classes will not be forced upon students in the upcoming 2010/2011 school year.

[Your name]

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