PORTLAND -- Several school superintendents in southern Maine say they don't foresee curriculums being affected if voters uphold Maine's new same-sex marriage law -- and haven't gotten many calls from parents on the issue.

Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron asked Attorney General Janet Mills on Wednesday for a legal analysis of whether the law would force schools to change their curriculums.

The issue has become a central theme in the campaign leading up to the vote Nov. 3.

Opponents say the law passed in May would lead schools to teach same-sex marriage. Proponents say that wouldn't be the case, as has Gendron.

While Gendron has said many times she doesn't foresee any effect for public schools' curriculums, "questions persist," she wrote in a letter to Mills, "both in the media and, now, with specific requests for clarification directed to superintendents around the state."

Because questions persist, Gendron wrote, she wants the legal opinion.

Department of Education spokesman David Connerty-Marin said Thursday that superintendents have reported getting phone calls and e-mails about the law's potential impact. While he couldn't quantify the number of calls, he said the department is seeing a pattern emerge.

"I'm quite certain a lot of superintendents are getting these questions," he said.

Connerty-Marin said curriculum decisions are made at the local level, and nothing in state law prohibits or encourages discussion of same-sex marriage in schools.

"It's in that vast middle area where local schools are supposed to make decisions about their curriculum," he said.

Portland Superintendent Jim Morse said he hasn't gotten any calls from parents asking about the effect of the same-sex marriage law -- only queries from the media.

Morse said that a family sexuality course taught in Portland's high schools includes a 10-minute video related to families. It discusses families of various makeups, such as single fathers, single mothers, interracial, and gay. About a minute of the video deals with families headed by same-sex couples, said Morse.

"It's the reality of today -- you have all of these different families that don't look like the 'Leave it to Beaver' families of the 1950s," he said.

Parents can have their children "opt out" of parts of the class, he said.

"Do we go out of our way to teach anything beyond that? We don't have time, and we're not required to by the state," said Morse.

Morse said the new law wouldn't change how Portland schools operate, and wouldn't require other schools to do anything different.

William Shuttleworth, superintendent of RSU 1, which covers Bath, West Bath, Phippsburg, Arrowsic and Woolwich, said he has had one inquiry from a parent, who wondered whether the law would require the schools to teach gay marriage.

"We don't teach hetero marriages, Why would I teach gay marriages?" Shuttleworth said.

Similarly, the South Portland superintendent's office said it hasn't received any inquiries.

Even the fact that Gendron requested an opinion on the controversial law proved controversial.

The Rev. Bob Emrich, a member of Stand for Marriage Maine's executive committee, noted that Mills testified in support of the bill to legalize same-sex marriage at a public hearing in April.

And, he said in a written statement, Gendron is a member of the administration of Gov. John Baldacci, who has supported same-sex marriage.

"Commissioner Gendron asking Attorney General Mills for an unbiased opinion on Question 1 smacks of a political stunt," Emrich said. "Hopefully, Attorney General Mills will not allow her department to be misused in such a manner."

Jesse Connolly, campaign manager for Protect Maine Equality, said proponents of the gay-marriage law aren't surprised "that the commissioner would want a definitive answer, and we welcome this opinion."

"This issue continues to cloud the debate, which should center on one question and one question only -- do we want to treat all Maine families equally under the law," Connolly said in a written statement.