Clovis Schools Superintendent Rhonda Seidenwurm Tuesday night apologized to parents and residents offended by the inclusion of lesbian couples in the 2008 high school yearbook, the Clovis News Journal reported.

Seidenwurm told an audience of more than 170 people who attended Tuesday night's Clovis school board meeting that she took full responsibility for not reinstating a policy giving school officials oversight of the yearbook and promised more oversight next year, the News Journal said.

Among the 19 residents, parents and students who commented on the controversy were some critics who said homosexuality is a sin and was not an appropriate subject in the yearbook, the paper said.

Others said the yearbook staff did the right thing by including two lesbian couples in a feature on relationships because they are part of the community, the News Journal reported.

One woman who said her daughter was one of the lesbians featured in the yearbook said her daughter had changed her mind about being included in the yearbook but was told it was too late to do anything about it, the paper said.

"There has to be some kind of accountability," said the mother, whose brother said the family is looking into legal remedies, the News Journal reported.

9:05am 5/27/08 -- Clovis Teacher Out as Yearbook Adviser: Annual's inclusion of lesbian couples expected to be a hot topic at school board meeting.

The inclusion of gay couples in this year's Clovis High School yearbook is not on the agenda at tonight's meeting of the local school board, but school Superintendent Rhonda Seidenwurm told the Clovis News Journal she expects it to be discussed during an open forum.

The meeting begins at 5:30 this afternoon, and a public forum where anyone can speak for three minutes on a school-related issues usually precedes the regular agenda items, the News Journal reported.

Local religious groups and community leaders spoke out last week after it was learned that the 2008 high school yearbook included photographs and interviews with two lesbian couples who were part of a larger feature on dating, the News Journal reported.

One issue likely to be discussed is why high school yearbook adviser Carol Singletary is no longer in that position, the paper reported.

Singletary told the News Journal on Monday that she is no longer adviser to the student-run publication but declined to answer any further questions.

Seidenwurm, however, told the paper that Singletary had resigned her position as adviser about a month ago, before any of the yearbook controversy over including gay couples had surfaced.

In her letter of resignation, Singletary said the yearbook needed more financial support from the school, the superintendent told the News Journal.

Singletary still teaches at the high school, Seidenwurm told the paper.

6:15am 5/23/08 -- Clovis Yearbook Features Gay Couples: Editor, staff member say it's being inclusive; Christian groups protest.

The editor-in-chief and a staff member on the 2008 Clovis High School yearbook say including photos and interviews with two lesbian couples is a reflection of the community, but a local Christian group and others strongly disagree, the Clovis News Journal reported.

"We just wanted to show that there is a diversity, there (are) gay and lesbian couples in the school and they have a right to be in the yearbook just as much as anybody else does," student editor-in-chief Maggie Chavez told the News Journal.

Chavez and staff member Jessie Hardison told the News Journal that the decision to include two lesbian couples along with nine heterosexual couples in a feature titled "Do you want to go out?" was a conscious one and made after much consideration and discussion.

While school staff check content for obscenity, libel and other matters of legal concern, yearbook supervisor Carol Singletary told the News Journal that featuring gay couples "didn't violate privacy, it wasn't obscene, it wasn't libelous ... it didn't violate any of the district policies."

But former Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley, who described himself as a parent and a concerned Christian member of the community, said he was upset about the photos and the accompanying interviews.

"I think it's highly inappropriate to place that in that venue. That is no place for that type of negligent exploitation of our kids," Bradley told the News Journal. "I do not in any way believe this reflects the attitudes and values of this community."

Chavez and Hardison said they too hold strong Christian values but that the issue is one of discrimination, the News Journal reported.

"I believe God's OK with it," Hardison told the paper. "I don't think he cares what you wear, what color your skin is or who you're with. I think he loves you for who you are."

Bradley said he serves on a strategy team for the schools and as a businessman has sponsored and endorsed school programs, but told the News Journal: "If this is indeed the direction that this school system is going to take and continue to promote, then don't look to me for any more donations."

Will Cockrell, a member of the Christian Citizenship Team that monitors political and social actions "that are counter to Christian doctrine," told the News Journal that Christians throughout the community are mobilizing to attend and speak out at next week's school board meeting.

"We don't think that it reflects anywhere close to the attitudes and morals of the community," Cockrell told the paper. "I don't have a child in school, but I'm appalled. If I were the parents of those kids, I'd own that school. Those are minors."