Two state bills that would require parental permission for students to join a school-sponsored club or extracurricular program infringe upon a school board's local control, a Columbia County school official said.

Georgia Senate Bill 149 and House Bill 661 would require boards of education to detail the activities of clubs and extracurricular programs to parents and give parents the authority to prevent their children from joining a club or non-academic program.

"It's another example of one-size-fits-all," Columbia County School Board member Regina Buccafusco said. "When the state gets involved in one-size-fits-all, it usually gets in the way of instruction."

Both bills are currently under review in education committees, said House Communications Director Michelle Hitt.

Though she doubts any state lawmaker would admit it, Mrs. Buccafusco believes the bills are a response to gay-straight alliance clubs that formed last year at Grady High School in Atlanta and at White County High School.

"There's suspicion it was aimed at that, although the people who put the bill forward deny it," Mrs. Buccafusco said.

One of those is state Rep. Sue Burmeister, R-Augusta, who referred to herself as a "top sponsor" of House Bill 661.

"Believe it or not, that wasn't the reason I sponsored it," she said. "I just felt it was a common-sense measure.

"I signed on to it because, as a parent, I want to know what clubs my children belong to."

The bills, if they pass, would have little effect in Columbia County, admitted Mrs. Buccafusco. Should students wish to form a club, they need a teacher sponsor, permission from school administration and, finally, permission from the school board, Mrs. Buccafusco said.

If a group seeking to organize a gay-straight alliance club appeals to the school board, Mrs. Buccafusco said, it would likely be approved.

"I don't see how you could avoid it," she said. "There are anti-discrimination laws that we would have to follow."

Still, she sees club formation and parental permission to join clubs as local school board decisions that should not be legislated from the state capital.

"What makes me concerned is when the legislators see a need like that in a small area and then aim to make it right for everybody in the state," Mrs. Buccafusco said. "I don't think everything is a one-size-fits-all, and we should be allowed at our local level to do what's right for our county."

Mrs. Burmeister said the bills prevent school boards from intruding on parents' rights to supervise their children.

"The school boards intrude on parental authority," she said. "That's happening more and more in the country in more and more areas of our lives.

"I think this is a way to have the parents take an active role."

Mrs. Buccafusco said the board doesn't intrude on parental rights because the board doesn't rear children.

"We are not in the business of raising children," she said. "We're in the business of educating children.

"I don't see how the Legislature should be any more in the business of raising children than we are."

Reach Donnie Fetter at 868-1222, ext. 113, or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com.