Mead School Board proposal suggest it would follow Trump orders that conflict with state law on transgender policy

A proposed policy on transgender students in the Mead School District suggests it would follow “federal guidance” over “state directives,” setting up a likely showdown with state officials tasked with enforcing state anti-discrimination law.

Hundreds of people packed into an old gymnasium Monday to learn about the policy proposed by the Mead School Board about how transgender students are treated in the district.

The proposed rules remove language calling for an atmosphere “free of discrimination” based on gender and makes numerous other changes.

The draft was crafted after the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction notified the district in February that the district’s current policy regarding transgender students is noncompliant. School districts were required to create policies prohibiting the harassment, intimidation and bullying of transgender students after the state Legislature passed a new law in 2019.

The Mead School District previously approved a policy protecting transgender students in 2019, using language suggested by the Washington State School Directors Association. The school directors association updated its transgender student policy in July 2024, but Mead did not.

School board member Alan Nolan said the new draft policy used the current school directors association policy as a template, but with numerous changes. Some language was deleted and some was added. Nolan said the district’s goal is to accommodate transgender students while not imposing on other students.

“The goal is to accommodate all students,” he said. “All students has been weaponized as of late.”

The proposal removes the line from Mead’s policy that the “board believes in fostering an education environment that is safe and free of discrimination for all students regardless of gender expression, gender identity, or sex.”

Instead, the draft rules say: “The board believes fostering an educational environment that supports effective learning for all students is its core responsibility. Inclusion and support of all students, in compliance with Washington State law and federal law, is a necessary component of that goal.”

Nolan said the district is facing conflicting rules from the state and the federal government. President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order that bans federal funding to programs that allow trans girls to play on girl’s sports teams. Washington State Superintendent Chris Reykdal has said that the school district risks its state funding, which accounts for 86% of Mead’s annual budget, if it does not comply with state law.

“There are risks regardless of what action we take,” Nolan said. “The district cannot operate without state funding, period. The district is at risk of losing federal funding if they simply adopt OSPI policy.”

Trump has issued orders banning transgender people from serving in the military and declaring there are only two sexes and that someone’s gender can’t differ from what is determined at someone’s birth. Many of these orders have been challenged in court.

Mead’s proposed policy removes any references to nonbinary people.

Data provided by the district shows that federal funding in its most recent budget was $8.8 million, only 5% of the annual budget. The state provided $137.6 million.

The district’s draft proposes working with each trans student on a case -by -case basis rather than setting a blanket policy.

“Mead School District procedures shall emphasize solutions that provide accommodation tailored to the specific situation and work to respect the rights of all students,” reads text the district added. “It does not intend to impose blanket solutions inherently favoring one protected class over another.”

The draft policy indicate that the district intends to side with Trump’s executive orders. “The Mead School District is obligated to comply with both state and federal law,” the policy reads. “When conflict exists, it acknowledges clear precedent for federal guidance to preempt state directives.”

The draft policy adds language mandating the involvement of parents if a student requests being identified with a different gender than is on their birth certificate and does not require teachers to use a student’s preferred pronouns.

A PowerPoint presentation from the district about the proposed policy suggests that asking teachers or other students to use a student’s preferred pronouns violates teachers’ and students’ First Amendment rights. Even so, the new policy still has directions for teachers on how to address students: “Staff, to the maximum extent possible, will use the student’s requested name in lieu of pronouns,” the proposed policy reads.

New language added by the district states that access to restrooms “inconsistent with sex at birth” has to be coordinated with school administrators ahead of time but “access to opposite sex bathrooms will be balanced against the facilities available and the needs of the student population as a whole.”

The district also added language that would impact trans students on overnight school trips, stating that “student room assignments will be made based on sex at birth.”

Board Chairman Michael Cannon said OSPI is being unusually “prescriptive and forceful” when it comes to the wording in the transgender student policy. “OSPI has made it very clear that there’s not a lot of room for changes, but we don’t agree with that,” he said.

Cannon said the district will send the draft policy to OSPI for review before voting on whether or not to approve it. He said he expects there to be some negotiation on the language the district is proposing. “We expect a response from them,” he said.

Many in the large crowd who spoke before the school board member were supportive of the changes the district made to the policy. Several urged the board members to “stay strong” and “protect our girls,” expressing concern about allowing transgender girls in girls bathrooms and locker rooms .

Cecily Wright, former chair of the Spokane County GOP, said parents and taxpayers should be setting district policy without “edicts from Olympia.” She encouraged enforcing boundaries between the sexes, particularly in sports and bathrooms. “I wouldn’t want to be sharing a locker room with a male,” she said. “I don’t think our girls would feel comfortable with that either.”

Jay MacPherson said students who think they are transgender just need love and care while they “figure it out.”

“Boys who think they’re girls need psychological care,” he said.

MacPherson advocated arresting trans girls who enter a girls bathroom or locker room. “They should be incarcerated while they come to grips with who they really are,” he said.

Not everyone who spoke was in support of the draft policy. Erin Carden urged the board to consult with trans students before finalizing the policy.

“They hear the way you talk about them,” she said. “They hear the way the teachers talk about them. I hope you reach out and listen to them.”

Carden said her son is transgender and was afraid at school.

“He didn’t eat or drink at school because he was afraid to go to the bathroom,” she said. “It was easier to hide.”

Rachel, who identified herself as a Mead student and did not provide her last name, said the policy affects everyone, not just trans students. She noted that trans teenagers have a much higher rate of suicide than other teens and chided the board members for treating the policy as a political issue.

“This is not politics,” she said. “These are students’ lives in your hands. You are not politicians. You need to protect us.”

Mike Miller told the board that the legality of Trump’s executive order has not yet been tested in court. He also noted that while the board is afraid of losing federal funding, Trump signed another executive order to abolish the Department of Education, so the district likely won’t be receiving federal funding anyway, Miller said.

Robin Villines, a 2018 graduate of Mead High School, spoke passionately to the board members.

“I came in here really angry, and now I’m just sad,” she said. “The lack of understanding and empathy for people who are different from you is astounding.”

It’s not hard to use a person’s preferred pronouns, she said.

“It’s so easy and kind,” Villines said. “We owe people empathy and kindness.”

Villines said she is bisexual, but she didn’t come out until she was in college because she knew she wouldn’t be accepted in the Mead School District.

“We are here and we’re not going away no matter how much you bully us,” she said.