Divisive topic brought standing room only attendance

    In a rare, standing room only school board meeting, there was the first reading of a divisive procedure regarding transgender students (the draw to the meeting for most of the crowd). On March 11, the school board, the superintendent, a high number of community members and even a four legged, furry friend (the school district's support dog, Princess Leia) gathered for the bimonthly meeting.
    Before the meeting, community conversation surrounding Procedure 3211, a procedure focusing on transgender students, gathered momentum on and off social media. The high attendance illustrated that the community had a stake in how the procedure will play out at the second reading on March 25
    "It's a topic that probably will polarize our group. We've got a lot of people on one side, a lot of people on the other. That's not atypical when we do something like this," said Superintendent Bill Motsenbocker. "The purpose of tonight is just to educate everybody."
    Motsenbocker opened the meeting by leaping into an informative presentation to lay the foundation of the particular procedure, who passes down policies and procedures to the school board (i.e. Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Washington State Director Association) and what it means for the Cascade School District. In the presentation he also covered vocabulary (i.e. explaining the difference between gender expression and gender identity) to ensure everyone in the audience had a clear understanding.
    "We get the laws, the rules and the procedures handed to us and then we have to implement those or be found in contempt of the law. If we chose to be in contempt of the law, usually what happens to a school district is a civil rights group will come in and sue you - then we take tax payer money and fight a law suit we're going to lose."
    With that disclosure, Motsenbocker made it clear that the board moving forward with the procedure isn't necessarily drawing a line in the sand with a personal political statement - but rather sticking to the law given.
    "We've all been elected by our community to support our community and also have been sworn in to uphold the laws in our state," said board member, Brenda Biebesheimer.
    Motsenbocker explained the confidentiality the students have with school staff, the request for school staff to avoid pronouns, how students are able to select how they are referred to both in person and correspondence - lastly, he touched on the weighted topic of bathroom and locker room accessibility.
    "Students can use the restroom that corresponds with the gender they assert at school. It's in the law, that's how it is," said Motsenbocker. The matter of fact law had an addition from Motsenbocker to ensure students comfortability. "I added in our procedure that any student in any building can request to use a private restroom at any time. That can be a transgender student or any student."
    As for locker room accessibility, the school district does have loose legislative reins on this.  The use of locker rooms by transgender or gender non conforming students is a case by case situation - rather than a definitive, no wiggle room law like restroom accessibility. Some alternatives for locker room privacy (not just transgender students, all students) can be a different changing schedule or a private changing area.
    After his presentation, several community members had the opportunity to weigh in now that the facts had been laid out.
    "We have been voted in with the job to make the best decision to benefit our district and our students so having a gathering and gathering information is extremely important. It's such a learning curve," said board member, Carrie Sorensen.
    While some backlash had been swirling, it seemed a majority of the group that was vocal at the meeting was in favor of the procedure regarding transgender students. The words compassion, open minded and acceptance rippled through the crowd in many of the public comments.
    "This is a public school district who should have policies already in place promoting acceptance and inclusiveness. These policies are critically important to maintain a positive school culture where all students feel included, respected regardless of their gender identity or gender expression," said Erin Pehowski, IRMS health counselor.
    
Other business tended:
- Brett Johnson came to update the board on special education in the district along with Princess Leia. He stated there were 145 kids in the special education program this school year.
- The Parks and Rec service representative Aaron Simon came to bring the board up to speed on the pool and tax levy along with other odd and ends.
- Icicle River math teacher Stuart Beckman was approved his resignation due to searching for a high school position.
- The first reading of pesticide notification which Motsenbocker said is usually in the summer months anyways.