A group of Pinewood School students wants to form an officially sanctioned gay-straight alliance club on campus, but administrators say it doesn’t mesh with the school’s philosophy.

Five teens at the Los Altos Hills private school launched an effort in February to create an organization for students to talk about the challenges facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

“I think the club is needed at the campus because there is a lot of … ignorance to what people say,” said senior Ben Marks, one of the organizers.

There was no single incident that spurred the teens to pursue a gay-straight alliance club, but it’s not uncommon to hear “homophobic slurs” in the hallways, Marks said.

The students took their idea to the school’s principal and president, and eventually sat down with its board of directors for more than two hours in March, providing testimonials from parents and former staff. However, the students learned in April that the board had rejected the request.

“Making an exception for one club means making exceptions for others,” the board said in a written response. “Pinewood would rather have a clear policy that prevents showing preferential treatment to one than having to make decisions each time another request arises.”

The board of directors determined that the proposed gay-straight alliance did not meet Pinewood’s criteria for clubs, which must either align with the school’s emphasis on academic excellence, provide opportunities for community service or enrich curricular areas.

In an interview Thursday, Principal Mark Gardner told The Daily News that past efforts to start Christian and Asian clubs have also been rejected.

Pinewood has a social awareness and multicultural club, Gardner said. Allowing a student organization that caters to specific interests could open the flood gates to more groups, potentially consuming school resources and dividing students, he said. In addition to the social awareness club, the school has a community service group called Interact, a chess club and honors societies.

“We said, ‘You can meet at lunch. You can meet at break on your own. It just won’t be a sanctioned club,’ ” Gardner said.

And that’s exactly what the teens who want a gay-straight alliance are doing. According to Michael Friedman, a senior who says he’s the only openly gay male student on campus, between 40 and 60 students meet a couple times a month to discuss issues such as sexuality, bullying and gender.

But there are advantages to being a sanctioned club, such as getting to make morning announcements, putting up posters, and having pictures in the year book, organizers said.

“We just want to advocate the Pinewood community and make it an environment that is safer and more friendly to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning) students,” Friedman said.

While Friedman says he hasn’t been targeted for being gay, students sometimes use homophobic slurs to tease and bully one another about perceived sexuality.

In its response to club organizers, board members said the Pinewood community is supportive of gay and lesbian students, but not of groups that “push one side of a political issue.” They also acknowledged that some parents don’t want gender and sexuality to be a focus on campus.

But Nikita Mohler, another organizer, said, “It’s nice to just have a clear marker of who would be safe to talk to. Especially for those students who are questioning.”

The students say they will try again next year to get the school to sanction the club.

As a result of the request this year, the board of directors created an “action plan” that included an assembly for gay-straight alliance club supporters. Faculty members were also reminded to direct students with concerns regarding gender to the school counselor or principal and to “be particularly cognizant of cruelty towards those with gender differences.”

“I love Pinewood and I think Pinewood is a very good place,” Marks said. “It just needs improvement on this one aspect.”

Email Jesse Dungan at jdungan@dailynewsgroup.com.