Parents shocked by school board president's questions
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

Mary Schroeder's fifth-grade Westlake Elementary class was observing a group of their peers being questioned on freedom of expression when a question from a school board member shocked the kids and volunteers, parents say.

The annual "We the People" program, held at the Reagan Library, involves placing students in small groups to study different units of the Constitution. They each speak on their topic and then are questioned by a panel of judges in front of the rest of their class.

Dolores Didio, acting as Conejo Valley Unified school board president and a judge in the mock-congressional hearings, "spontaneously" asked the kids to respond to whether a recent Colorado high school panel's discussion of unprotected sex and drug use was appropriate, said parents.

How did the freedom of expression come into play in the controversial discussion, Didio asked.

"Dolores Didio framed the question so that the students were to discuss freedom of speech in regards to the controversial panel discussion," said parent Andrea Ainley in a letter to the Thousand Oaks Acorn's editor. She was disturbed by Didio's usage of the words "unprotected sex" and "drug use."

"Ms. Didio could have used a million other age-appropriate examples to probe the minds of these elementary school students, but her choice of examples is both reprehensible and regrettable."

Paulina Goldstein's daughter was in the group of six 10- and 11-year-olds that received the question about sex and drugs, and, according to Goldstein, it affected their focus.

"Our kids just froze," Goldstein said. "They studied long and hard for this, and after that question, they weren't really able to respond to any questions. It was extremely inappropriate- they were embarrassed."

Didio did admit that the question wasn't appropriate for the age group she was addressing.

"Thinking back, it would have been better for an older audience," said Didio, who is in her 70s. "It was not something that was intended to offend students or make them uncomfortable. It wasn't intended to create this kind of controversy. It was certainly appropriate for the topic, but not necessarily age appropriate."

Didio said she called Westlake Elementary the morning after the event and spoke with the principal and teacher Schroeder.

"I can understand where they are coming from, but they have to understand that I took the appropriate steps to correct it," Didio said. "I offered to talk to the class, but they said the kids were fine, and I was assured they were."

A group of women from Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks, including Goldstein, Ainley and Lauren Lieberman, sent a letter to the editor expressing their outrage.

"Our children's innocence is to be cherished and protected, and we are tremendously angered by the arrogance implicit in Ms. Didio's actions," the letter read.

"This is a board member clearly out of touch with the students she is meant to protect and with the community that she has been elected to serve."

Despite Didio's regret, she did express concern that parents may be extending their complaints in preparation for the next school board election campaign.