Camas School District – Sexual Health and Gender Identity Meeting – March 20 2019

On March 20, 2019, the Camas School District held a closed event to make a presentation about Sexual Health and Gender Identity in association with the districts ongoing curriculum development. Following is the information we’ve been able to gather using the Public Record Request process. We believe the information to be accurate. Should you have different information or clarifications please let us know and we’ll review, investigate and amend as needed.

The Camas SD reached out to the parents of Middle and High School students to notify them that a special (closed) meeting would be held on March 20th on the topic of Sexual Health and Gender Identity. This meeting was restricted to a maximum of 75 parents. ONLY parents with students in Middle/High school were eligible to attend. No members of the press or community. Pre-registration was required. If/when parents dropped out the next person(s) on the list were invited. We were told that non-parents attempted to attend but were refused.

A Power Point presentation was given. After that presentation the parents were broken out into tables of 6-8. Each table also had two (2) district employees. One to moderate and the other to take notes. The notes from each table were/are to be combined into a set of theme’s and comments. As of the day of this report those notes are not available to the public. (The Camas SD has refused to provide the notes saying they are preliminary citing RCW 42.56.280)

We obtained a copy of the presentation: 3-20-2019 Gender Identity Listening Post_CamasSD

First thing to note is that this is not considered a “public meeting” and as such is not subject to the public meeting rules. By calling it a “community listening post” and limiting the attendees and topic they are “gathering” information. This also allows them to keep the information private. They are not required to disclose the notes unless or until they complete an analysis and the notes have been evaluated by the Student Wellness Advisory Committee. If the committee makes a recommendation to the school board, the notes will no longer be exempt from disclosure. There is no timeline on that process. Any interested party should follow the Public Record Request process for the Camas SD: https://swweducation.org?p=4066

Let’s take a look at some of the slides. You have full access to them in the link above. There are 44 slides and they are in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format which should be readable on any computer or tablet.

Rather than try to show every slide please take the time to review them yourself. Share your questions in social media, or, if you want to share them with us they will be posted on the blog in association with this article.

Let’s jump to the last part of the presentation for what they call “listening post goals”

Finally, from the end of the slide deck the “next steps”:

2nd – We obtained a list of district personnel who attended along with their titles. Why are we providing this? So you know who helped run the program in case it’s useful. Please do not, in any way, act in an untoward manner. Be respectful…please

Doug Hood, Director of Elementary Education

Julie Mueller, Principal

Cathy Sork, Principal

Julie Swan, Principal

Melissa Hutton, Assoc. Principal

Stephen Baranowski, Assoc. Principal

Emily Fitch, Counselor

Brian Graham, Principal

Amy Holmes, Principal

Dr. Williams, Asst. Superintendent

Aaron Parman, Principal

Kari Swanson, Admin Assistant

Maria Klein, Admin Assistant

Doreen McKercher, Communications Director

Michele Houston, Teacher

Rebecca VonDuering, Special Services Director

Hilary Gibson, Teacher

Jo Candelore, Assoc. Principal

Josh Altmiller, Assoc. Principal

Marilyn Boerke, Talent Development Director

Carol Bruce, District Nursing Supervisor

Diane Loghry, Primary Education Director

Final thoughts:

1.   The district is trying to get feedback in a closed environment where interactions can be controlled
2.   They were after discussion rather than testimony
3.   Apparently they have been using this process for nearly a decade (10 years) so that they don’t need to follow the Public Meeting requirements.
4.   Without knowing other topics in the past we have no idea what they haven’t shared with the public

If you think the process should be changed let them know. If you want the notes ask for them.