Central Valley joins lawsuit against OSPI gender identity policy

The Central Valley School Board voted Thursday to join a lawsuit challenging a state policy that allows transgender girls to participate in girls sports.

The board voted 3-1 to a sign a letter intending to join the lawsuit, led by the Lynden School District. Board member Cynthia McMullen was not present at the meeting. Central Valley’s letter says that the district’s participation is contingent on 15 districts participating and splitting the cost of the legal action.

“The purpose of this litigation is to address a procedural failure by OSPI. We are not seeking to exclude or prevent participation by any protected group,” the letter reads. “Rather, the requested relief aims to reaffirm that school districts, as locally elected bodies, have a right to participate in the policy adoption process through formal rulemaking, public comment, and local discretion. This case seeks to ensure that OSPI honors the principles of due process and local representation in how it develops and enforces statewide policies.”

The board members in support stressed their vote was about having a local voice in important issues. Opponents of the state policy have argued that the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction failed to properly allow for public comment before it adopted policy that allows students to participate in sports based on the gender with which they identify.

“I became a board director, because I won a majority vote, and that majority understood that it was important to me that we have local control and that we work together to reflect the community values to the extent that we can. Obviously not everyone is always going to be satisfied,” Stephanie Jerdon, board president, said during the meeting on Thursday night.

Board member Teresa Landa cast the lone vote against sending the letter. She raised several questions during the meeting and asked why the board was moving forward in a decision so quickly.

“We have better use for our dollars,” Landa said. “We haven’t given our public enough time to digest this.”

Central Valley officials estimated the legal action would cost $5,000-$10,000. That money would be paid for from funds already set aside for potential litigation and would not impact school programs, they said.

Board member Anniece Barker said that signing the letter is about holding OSPI accountable.

“It’s not an attack on any community, so I fully support this,” Barker said. “I am not interested in delaying this.”

Before the board began discussing the letter on Thursday night, several people spoke against the board signing it, including a past student who uses they/them/their pronouns. They voiced concerns about what the district’s signature would mean for students with different gender identities, stating that it could make schools less safe for students who have a gender identity that is different than what they were assigned at birth.

The letter was first brought to the board on Monday. During that meeting, Landa made a motion for the board to wait to make a decision until their last meeting in August. No one seconded the motion.