La Center School District appeals OPSI ruling on its gender pronoun policy

District is asking that the OSPI’s findings be vacated

Ken Vance, editor
Clark County Today

La Center School District Superintendent Peter Rosenkranz has followed through on his pledge to appeal the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) ruling on the district’s gender pronoun policy. 

The OSPI’s Equity and Civil Rights office ruled in March that the district discriminated against students and staff based on gender identity with its pronoun policy which calls for teachers and staff members to not ask students for their pronoun preferences. Instead, staff have been instructed to wait for students to offer their pronoun preferences themselves without being prompted.

“At the heart of our efforts is a commitment to fostering student success through collaboration between schools and families,’’ Rosenkranz told Clark County Today. “We firmly believe that parents play the primary role in raising and guiding their children, and our schools function best when we work cooperatively with families to support student well-being and development.

“The issue at hand involves complex legal and policy considerations, particularly when it comes to parental rights and the role of schools in student identity matters,’’ Rosenkranz added. “As reflected in our ongoing correspondence with OSPI, we have actively sought to collaborate with OSPI to construct policy that honors constitutional protections afforded to parents under both U.S. and Washington State law.

“Our Board Policy 3211 and its procedure, 3211P, were crafted with the goal of involving parents in a manner consistent with these legal principles,’’ Rosenkranz said. “We respectfully disagree with OSPI’s policy interpretation, as it undermines the well-established constitutional rights of parents to be involved in decisions affecting their children.

“We remain committed to working in good faith toward solutions that uphold both student well-being and parental rights in support of families,’’ Rosenkranz said. “Our intent has always been to ensure that our policies reflect both legal precedent and our core belief in the importance of family engagement. This is not about opposing students; it is about ensuring that schools and families work together in the best interest of each child.’’

The appeal letter, dated March 20 and posted on the La Center School District website contains the request for relief. 

“There are significant requests, not least of which is to vacate their findings,’’ Rosenkranz said.

Specifically, the district is asking in the complaint that “if the tribunal rules against La Center on the previous issue, in determining La Center’s transgender policy moving forward, La Center seeks an order declaring that La Center should not have to adopt OSPI’s model policy without amendments and without providing a logical process for employees to address transgender status student situations. This would include a process involving parents and respecting their constitutional rights.’’ La Center School District also for its costs, attorney fees, and expenses in the matter.

Background

In December 2022, Dr. Gene Sementi of RLR Consulting in Spokane, provided the district his final report on a review of the district’s preferred pronoun usage. In his report, Sementi found that no La Center students had their Civil Rights violated by the directive Rosenkranz shared with staff members in an email distributed on Oct. 28.

Despite that determination, the complaint was then forwarded to the La Center School Board and was addressed during a special meeting Tuesday (Jan. 10, 2023), during which board members heard passionate testimony from teachers, students and citizens. The board reviewed the matter and also forwarded it to OSPI for review.