MISSION VIEJO : Cheerleader Policy Upsets Some Saddleback Valley Parents

Some parents of students in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District say they may take legal action challenging how cheerleaders are selected in the district’s schools.

The parents, whose daughters were not chosen for the varsity or junior varsity cheering squads at Laguna Hills High School, contend that cheerleaders should be chosen under criteria similar to those for other extracurricular activities, such as football. That sport and others do not require teacher evaluations.

The cheerleader issue, simmering for more than a month, came up again at a school board meeting this week. Board members refused to enter the fray, however, and district officials have not recommended any policy changes.

Deborah Gillis, whose 17-year-old daughter, Elissa, didn’t make the varsity cheer squad at Laguna Hills High School last spring, said requiring teacher evaluations is unfair because they are largely based on a student’s grade point average.

Gillis contended that such an approach unfairly punishes the “average” student.

Bonnie K. Lawley, a Hacienda Heights lawyer who has been advising Gillis and other parents, said the cheerleader selection process may violate the equal protection clause of the state Constitution.

Lawley said individual high schools in the district are allowed to set their own criteria for cheerleader tryouts, a policy that she described as “totally improper.”

“It’s discrimination,” Lawley said.

Bob Metz, the school district’s director of instruction, said he could not comment on specifics of the dispute because of the possibility of a legal challenge but added, “We feel the [selection] process is a fair process.”