By Patricia Bailey
Good evening, School Board. There are serious legal and ethical questions concerning Highline School District Policy 3211. This policy requires teachers and other school officials to withhold information from the parents or guardian, if that is the student’s decision.
It’s a serious mental health issue when a student begins to identify as the opposite sex at school without telling the parents. A Highline School District official recently wrote, “…the determination of whether to tell the parent/ guardian lives with the student. A student may have many reasons not to disclose this information to their parent—for example, a student may have indicated a safety concern if their parent/guardian becomes aware of the situation.”
Let’s see if this makes for good school policy.
A student may habitually skip school 2 out of 5 days per week, but may also indicate a safety concern if their parents become aware of it. Should this stop school personnel from notifying the home?
What if the student brings a gun to school, but indicates a safety concern if the parents become aware of it? Will this stop school personnel from notifying the home?
What if a student starts a fight, resulting in serious injury, but indicates a safety concern if the parent or guardian becomes aware of it? Should this stop school personnel from notifying the home?
It doesn’t take long to figure out that putting children in charge is not a credible way to operate a school district. In fact, parents and guardians are the most important people in a student’s life.
Districts should never ever have a policy that assumes the worst about parents or guardians. Policy and Procedure 3211/3211P must be corrected. Thank you.
Superintendent Duran has repeatedly said “the children are the truthtellers,” implying adults (and school officials) should blindly follow those supposedly inherent truths. But it’s a ridiculous assertion, because as a group, those same children have neither the education nor wisdom to make certain decisions as heavy and permanent as this. Children are a protected class for a reason, and the parents MUST be respected, even if the district’s political opinions differ.