The Kalama School Board did not include state-required information about bullying — including a section on transgender students — in the district’s latest student handbook update, even though the state requirements mirror the district’s own gender-inclusivity policies.
The district has a gender-inclusivity policy listed on its website, but the regulations are not listed in the handbook, which outlines the schools’ rules for students in printed form.
Board member Katie Perkins said at a meeting last week that she felt the state was overstepping by requiring language on transgender students into the district’s harassment, intimidation and bullying policy. She said including it created the impression that the policy as a whole only applied to certain students.
Perkins said she doesn’t foresee any discipline from the state for not including the information because other school districts, which she did not name, have also opted not to adopt the language.
All of the board members declined to comment on the changes outside of what was said at public meetings. Superintendent Wesley Benjamin also declined to comment on the policy because he just started his position on July 1.
The board first discussed the new language May 28 and ultimately decided to table the issue. On June 24, members voted to finalize next school year’s student handbook without including any part of the state requirements or the district’s own gender-inclusive policy.
Changes to state law in 2023 require school districts to include their harassment, intimidation and bullying policy in handbooks beginning in the 2024-25 school year.
The required language in that policy includes a section on gender inclusivity in schools that gives students the right to be addressed by their requested name and pronouns whether or not they have legally changed their name; have their gender designation changed in school records if necessary; use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity; and participate in sports and other activities according to their gender identity.
This largely aligns with Kalama’s current gender-inclusive schools procedure, which was adopted in 2019 and most recently updated in 2022. The only difference is that the district’s procedure states that locker room use will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but that students should generally be allowed to use the locker room that corresponds with their gender identity.
Robert DeSoto, a Kalama parent who spoke against the policy at the board’s May 28 meeting, said a large issue with the required handbook changes is that they do not give districts the ability to tailor the language to their own preferences.
“There’s no room for any kind of alteration,” he said. “It was a straight dictation from Jay Inslee.”
GLSEN is a research and advocacy group that aims to create more supportive school environments for LGBTQ+ students.
The group’s 2021 National School Climate Report shows transgender and nonbinary students who attended schools with a transgender/nonbinary student policy were less likely to report experiencing discrimination and missing school out of safety concerns, and were more likely to say that they felt like part of their school community.
Negative experiences can have serious effects on students. A series of surveys on mental health by the Trevor Project, which works to prevent suicide among young LGBTQ+ people, found that LGBTQ+ people are at higher risk of suicide than their peers and frequently experience issues like depression and anxiety.
However, community support can reduce the risk. The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey reports that transgender and nonbinary students who considered their schools gender-affirming had lower rates of attempted suicide than students who did not.
That’s why Jillane Baros, a Kalama resident with a Ph.D. in educational leadership, wrote to the school board in support of the state-required handbook changes. Baros’ research focuses on how schools can protect LGBTQ+ students and why it’s necessary to do so.
“Policies such as these and other inclusive practices are not only necessary for them to access their education, but they are literally a matter of saving lives,” Baros writes in the letter.
Baros said that some other residents who supported the changes were concerned about drawing negative attention by speaking out, but that she was less worried because she does not have children in Kalama’s schools and teaches in a different school district.
“I felt like someone needed to stand up and express support,” she said.
