Wednesday, July 25, 2001
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Wednesday, July 25, 2001 |
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Warr honored by Atlanta group Enlight Atlanta, an organization devoted to ending bias and harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity in Atlanta area schools, presented an award to Fayette County High School principal Dr. Charles Warr July 13 for what it called "the courage and commitment to his students to stop harassment based on sexual orientation." Enlight Atlanta recently conducted a survey that it said "exposed the prevalence of sexual orientation and gender identity harassment in Atlanta area schools." According to that report, all of the guidance counselors at three of the county's four public high schools said that they were aware of such harassment in their schools. Starr's Mill High School did not respond to the survey, the group said. Warr received this award at a special ceremony at City Cafe in Fayetteville. He was principal at Sandy Creek High School until last month, when he succeeded Gary Phillips at Fayette County High. Warr's own successor, Roy Rabold, also attended the event at City Cafe, where Sandy Creek's drama and choral boosters club received a check for $25,000 to purchase a sound system and stage. The executive director of Enlight Atlanta met with Warr and Sandy Creek assistant principal Bob Hokkanen in March concerning a freshman student named Josh, who reported frequent harassment because of his sexual orientation. Josh's parents also attended the meeting, after which Warr and Hokkanen promised to put an end to the harassment. According to the Enlight Atlanta report, several students were immediately disciplined and given one strike, in accordance with the state's bully law. The harassment stopped almost completely, but one student assaulted Josh six weeks later and received a two-week suspension and transfer to an alternative school. Josh's situation was the subject of an Atlanta Constitution editorial June 22, entitled "Bullying gay teens won't be tolerated." During the ceremony, the principal explained how he ended the harassment and Josh's mother spoke about the pain she endured in learning that her son was being harassed. At the end, Josh entertained the attendees by singing a song.
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