Officials raise fuss over form for guest speakers

Wake school policy for speakers called an 'overreaction'

RALEIGH -- Sheriff Donnie Harrison may be Wake County's top cop, but for now he's officially unwelcome as a speaker at the county's public schools.

That's because Harrison is refusing to sign a school system form requiring guest speakers to promise to watch what they say and do. He complains that it's inappropriate to ask elected officials to sign the form, which was put in place after a guest speaker denounced Islam at Enloe High School last year.

"It's degrading to make me sign the form," Harrison said on Friday. "I've always been honest. I'm not going to sign a form saying I'll be honest."

Harrison, who was recently asked to speak at a middle school, isn't the only elected official objecting to the conditions. Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly said it puts teachers in a difficult spot asking prospective speakers to sign.

"It's just horrible that they don't have the confidence that teachers will invite responsible speakers," Weatherly said.

Guest speakers must agree to conditions such as not denigrating any culture, race, gender, national origin or religion. Speakers must also agree to provide accurate information. They also have to acknowledge that appropriate attire, language and behavior are required.

School officials defend the policy as being necessary to protect students against guest speakers who behave irresponsibly.

"Why would someone not want to sign that form?" said Michael Evans, a schools spokesman. "That's in place to protect everybody from the speakers to the teachers to the students."

The form wasn't in place last February when Enloe High School social studies teacher Robert Escamilla invited a Christian evangelist to speak with students. The speaker denounced Islam as a religion of violence. He also distributed pamphlets that called the Prophet Muhammad a "criminal" and "demon possessed."

Following complaints from parents, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the ACLU, Escamilla was suspended, reprimanded and transferred to Phillips High School, an alternative school.

Superintendent Del Burns apologized to the Muslim community in May and announced the new speaker policy.

Escamilla sued the school system in November alleging his constitutional rights had been violated. The lawsuit demands that he be transferred back to Enloe.

Some of Escamilla's former students plan to hold a protest at Enloe on Wednesday to mark the one-year anniversary of his suspension from the school.

At least one school board member thinks the policy ought to be reviewed. Ron Margiotta called the speakers policy an "overreaction" to what happened at Enloe.

The forms have added paperwork for teachers, according to Jennifer Lanane, president of the Wake chapter of the N.C. Association of Educators, the group representing the school district's employees. Lanane acknowledged that the policy can be "a pain in the neck" but said teachers understand why it's needed.

"Should it be done? Yes," she said. "It's for the safety of the children."

Weatherly said teachers and students don't follow the guidelines themselves, noting the attire some wear at school. He also questioned whether the "politically correct" material teachers sometimes send home with his children meets the same standard for being accurate and factual that speakers must follow.

Evans said the policy applies to all guest speakers.

But Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones said she wasn't asked to sign the form when she recently spoke at an elementary school. If she had been asked ahead of time, she doesn't know if she would have signed the form.

"I think I have enough sense to dress appropriately and tell the truth," Jones said. "I'm not going to tell them stuff that isn't true. I feel it was kind of an affront to the mayors in this community."