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Complaints over Bingham High School's production of the drama "Dead Man Walking" last spring have prompted the Jordan Board of Education to review the district's policy on selecting school plays.

The school board will discuss the policy Tuesday at a study session before its regularly scheduled meeting in West Jordan.

The board isn't considering any major changes, said Steve Dunham, a district spokesman, but wants to ensure policy is being followed in the wake of objections expressed by the Eagle Forum earlier this summer.

The conservative activist group issued a press release in June objecting to Bingham High's performance, claiming the production was laden with profanity, sexual language, violence, racial slurs, bigotry, political bias and "inappropriate use of Biblical teachings."

The release came more than two months after the play premiered in March. It included five letters the Eagle Forum claimed were from concerned Bingham parents. The letters, however, were unsigned and names of the concerned parents were not provided to news outlets.

Sandy Riesgraf, Jordan School District Communication director, said the district fielded only one complaint about the play before the Eagle Forum issued its news release. More than 700 parents and patrons saw the play and expressed overwhelming support, she said.

Riesgraf said the Eagle Forum's Dalane England requested a meeting with district officials and said she was going to bring a group of concerned parents with her. But the night before the meeting, England canceled. She was given the opportunity to reschedule but never did, Riesgraf has said.

England disputed that the district gave her an opportunity to reschedule and said parents backed out of the meeting when they learned they wouldn't be able to attend as a group. School officials wanted to meet with each set of concerned parents individually, England said. But some parents were uneasy about that idea and feared their children would face retribution at school if they complained about the play, she said.

England said Monday that she wasn't aware the drama issue was scheduled for a school board study session. She said a petition is in the works asking the school district to take "proper course" against employees who allowed the play to go forward.

"I can't imagine anyone wanting to put this play on. It is so dark," said England. She said she spoke to Bingham High students who were "horrified to see their friends on stage doing what they were doing" as they acted out the play, based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean, a nun who counseled a condemned killer before he was executed.

Dunham said whenever there's an incident such as the Eagle Forum complaint, board members generally like to talk about how district policy played out.

"It's so the board members can have an opportunity to ask questions about how [policy] was used in this instance," Dunham said. "They want to make sure that everything is taken care of as it was supposed to take place."

Dunham said administrators at Bingham High approved the decision to perform the play. A committee of parents agreed after deciding to make a few edits to the script for language and content.

Riesgraf said Jordan's policy requires schools to also secure approval from administrators at the district level.

She and Dunham said they couldn't comment on whether that approval would have come. But, Dunham noted, the fact that a parent committee approved the play's contents "would lead me to believe" that administrators also would have signed off.

Riesgraf said many swear words were removed from the script and that drama students were told more edits were possible if they were uncomfortable with the language. The student actor in the play's lead role worked with parents and teachers to limit offensive language while preserving the authenticity of the character, Riesgraf said.

Bingham Principal Tom Hicks has said no one has complained to him or to the drama teacher who directed the play.

Twitter: @mrogers_trib —

School board study session

P The Jordan District School Board meets Tuesday, beginning at 4:30 p.m., in the Auxiliary Services Building board conference room, 7905 S. Redwood Road, West Jordan.