Brody's Notes... Anoka-Hennepin School District Superintendent Condemns Rolling Stone Article

Anoka-Hennepin Schools Superintendent
Dennis Carlson via Minnesota Public Radio

By Brody Levesque | MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA -- Anoka-Hennepin School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson angrily denounced the article published last week in Rolling Stone magazine, that highlighted the rash of teen suicides that occurred within his school district over the past three years and the links some of those deaths had to anti-gay bullying. Rolling Stone political reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely, in the article- One Town's War on Gay Teens- describes the school district's officials and school board as largely unresponsive and catering to the Parents Action League- a conservative parent group- which is a small but virulent anti-gay faction which seeks to oppose recognition of LGBTQ youth.

Superintendent Carlson denounced Erdely's article as a "brutal and distorted attack," the head of Minnesota's largest school district said in a voicemail fired off to his staff, adding that, "This is a vicious insult to all of you who have worked so hard to make this district and this community a better place.”

Minnesota newspaper, The Pioneer Press, reports:

Some in the community said the piece fairly accurately reflects the situation; others said it unfairly made most of the school district seem anti-gay. "From everything I know and have seen, it's an accurate article," said Tammy Aaberg, an Anoka-Hennepin parent who lost her son Justin, a gay teenager, to suicide in 2010.

But the superintendent, who said he received scores of hate emails over the article, said it has inaccuracies and ignores the district's efforts to better protect gay students. The district conducted staff awareness training after the suicides and offered additional training when teachers said they were confused about the sexual orientation policy, according to a statement on the district website. The school board is considering replacing the policy and will vote on a new one Monday. "We did have a cluster of suicides, and we got very concerned," Carlson said. "We started taking immediate steps, and we haven't stopped....We told (the writer) of the efforts, and she mentioned none."

Erdely defended her writing telling the newspaper that she spent four months talking to dozens of community members, including other parents, teachers and students.

"Between all of them they gave me a very full sense of what was going on in the district," Erdely said. "If (Carlson) thinks this was a distorted version of the truth, maybe he is too far removed." 

Erdely also claimed that the article is not a generalization. "Granted, the headline is a little over the top, but anyone who reads beyond that can see that I don't label the entire area as anti-gay extremists, Erdely said.”What I do say is that these anti-gay policies were passed by a school board to appease a small vocal minority."

According to Carlson, all it has done is create distraction from the work the teachers and administrators already are doing. "Kids are bullied for being gay across this county on a daily basis, and we need to make sure all schools are safer for them, absolutely....This vicious debate going on does not help."