SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – The Central Valley School Board has voted to sign a letter of intent to sue the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The board argues that OSPI cannot impose mandates on school districts without a formal rulemaking process.
The controversy centers around the state’s gender-inclusive schools policy, which is rooted in civil rights law and prohibits discrimination and harassment based on gender identity and expression.
Most board members emphasize that their issue is not with the policy itself but with its implementation. One member questioned, “What’s the rush?” highlighting concerns over rushed procedures similar to those they claim OSPI engaged in.
Teresa Landa of the Central Valley School Board expressed concerns about the use of resources.
“At this point I think, we have better use for our dollars, we haven’t given our public enough time to digest this… but we cannot change the law,” Landa said.
“This is about procedure. I’ll say it again and again it is about procedure… we have the funds to do this… we are not taking anything from them,” Anniece Barker, another member of the Central Valley School Board, stated.
The Central Valley Board assured that student program funding would not be impacted, though $5,000 to $10,000 may be allocated for the lawsuit.
The superintendent noted that the letter of intent is not binding. Lynden, the original district leading this action, needs a minimum of 15 school districts to proceed with the lawsuit.
