Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 -Mason County Journal- Page A-21
Policy: Board took commen00E:s on policy in September
continued from page A-1
Jarvis told the Journal in a phone in-
terview on Monday. "As a public agen-
cy, you try to stay up with require-
ments so we don't find ourselves in
jeopardy of having an old policy."
Chapter 28A.642.010 of the Revised
Code of Washington (RCW) prohibits
discrimination in public schools based
on sexual orientation, including gen-
der expression or identity.
"This isn't new," said Shelton High
School Principal Wanda Berndtson.
"We're not on the cutting edge with
our policy."
The Washington Interscholastic
Athletic Association developed policies
for transgender athletes in 2007, she
said.
The Journal reached out to all five
members of the School Board for ad-
ditional comment. Tarzwell and Car-
nahan responded.
Carnahan told the Journal in an
email Tuesday that he was most con-
cerned with the idea that students of
different biological sexes could be using
the same bathroom and locker facilities.
The policy requires that a trans-
gender student be allowed to use an
alternate restroom, or the restroom
or locker facilities of the gender they
identify with.
"I am dismayed by the manner in
which the Board conducted a vote and
very limited discussion on the District's
Transgender Student Policy," Carna-
han wrote. "I was indeed outraged at
the meeting, as I believe many parents
and community members would be if
they had been privy to the information
I had."
Carnahan said he felt the vote was
rushed and told the Journal he was
asked to refrain from offering his opin-
ions on the policy.
The School Board previously dis-
cussed the policy and took public com-
ments at its Sept. 23 meeting.
"Honestly, most of the students I've
worked with are not comfortable going
into either bathroom," CHOICE Al-
ternative School Principal Stacey An-
derson told the Journal. "They're not
going to try to make the point of a big
bathroom display."
If a problem results from the rest-
room policy, it would become a disci-
plinary issue, Anderson said.
Tarzwell told the
Journal in an email
Tuesday she voted
no because she was
unsure whether
the district's policy
would allow all stu-
dents to request the
use of an alternate
Jarvis restroom. After re-
searching the issue,
she said her concern has been ad-
dressed.
"I now have a reasonable expecta-
tion that all students transgender
or not have equal rights to an al-
ternative restroom," she wrote in an
email.
Shelton School District administra-
tors spoke out in favor of the policy at
the Oct. 14 meeting.
"It is really important we have a
policy in place so we can protect these
students," Anderson said. "These are
truly students who identify as a gen-
der different than what they were
born with."
Anderson said students identifying
as transgender or gender nonconform-
ing are in every age group in the district.
She said more students at CHOICE
have openly identified themselves as
transgender in recent years.
Berndtson said a few students at SHS
identify themselves as transgender.
Anderson told the Journal this
week that students who identify them-
selves as transgender are more likely
to be homeless, use drugs or attempt
suicide.
"There were some good opinions
expressed on both sides (at the Oct.
14 meeting) ... but there's also just a
general lack of understanding in the
community," she said. "I think that
in talking to other buildings, Shelton
has other students for sure ... who
have been experimenting with their
gender."
The Shelton School District previ-
ously had nondiscrimination policies,
but they did not specifically refer to
transgender or gender nonconforming
students.
Carnahan also said at the Oct. 14
meeting that "literally thousands" of
people in the district were offended by
the proposed policies.
As School Board members talked
over one another, member Gene Cra-
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"There were some good opinions expressed
on both sides (at the Oct. 14 meeting)
,,. but there's also just a general lack of
understanding in the community,"
Stacey Anderson, principal of CHOICE AIternative School
ter grabbed the gavel and tried to re-
store order.
"This is a law. I have personal opin-
ions and so do you. This is a law," Cra-
ter said to Carnahan. "The law says
we must do this. There is no discus-
sion."
The state Legislature passed RCW
28A.642 in 2010. The Legislature di-
rected OSPI to develop rules and
guidelines to eliminate discrimination
in public school employment, counsel-
ing and guidance services for students,
recreational and athletic activities,
courses, and textbooks and instruc-
tional materials, according to OSPI's
guidelines.
The law is also outlined in Chapter
392-190 of the Washington Adminis-
trative Code (WAC).
"It's not a question of morality. It's
a question of legality," School Board
member Cheryl Williams said just be-
fore the board voted to pass the policy.
The policy will standardize the way
transgender students are treated through-
out the school district, Jarvis said.
"It directs the superintendent to de-
velop procedures so we have a common
policy," he said.
Having a common policy helps ad-
ministrators treat students fairly,
Berndtson said.
"That really helps us as adminis-
trators follow the state law," she said.
"Our No. 1 goal for these young people,
as with all, is student safety."
The newly adopted policy requires
the school district to maintain records
that accurately reflect a student's gen-
der identity.
It also requires that school employ-
ees address transgender students by
the personal pronoun of their choice
and requires gender-neutral dress
codes.
The policy prohibits employees
from disclosing a student's status as
transgender or gender nonconforming.
Anderson said students at Shelton
schools seem to be accepting of their
peers.
"We haven't had any trouble with
other students," she said. "Today's
students are far ahead of us on this."
The new policy also requires the dis-
trict to provide training to administra-
tors and other employees "regarding
their responsibilities under Chapter
392-190 WAC prohibiting discrimina-
tion against transgender and gender
nonconforming students, and to raise
awareness of and eliminate bias based
on sex, sexual orientation and gender
expression or identity."
The policy also outlines how stu-
dents can file discrimination and ha-
rassment complaints. All such com-
plaints are to be given "immediate
attention" by the district's civil rights
compliance coordinator.
The policy states, "Complaints al-
leging discrimination or harassment
based on a person's actual or perceived
gender identity O r expression are to be
taken seriously and handled in the
same manner as other discrimination
and/or harassment complaints."
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