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Board adopts updated anti-harassment and bullying policy to align with state law
Summary
The Kennewick School District board voted to adopt Policy 3207 (prohibition of harassment, intimidation, bullying and cyberbullying) with technical edits and requested minor textual fixes before posting online; staff said changes were made to comply with Washington HB1296 and referenced RCW language.
The Kennewick School District Board of Directors voted to adopt Policy 3207, titled “Prohibition of harassment, intimidation, bullying, and cyberbullying,” after staff said they had revised the policy to comply with recent state law changes. Melissa Johnson, assistant superintendent K–12, explained the edits and said the district added protected categories and adjusted wording per state requirements.
Why it matters: The policy update is intended to ensure the district’s rules match Washington state statutory changes referenced by district staff during the meeting. The board adopted the policy on an advisory-first-and-second-reading motion and completed a roll-call vote.
What staff said Johnson said the policy changes were made to comply with “Washington HB 1296.” She said the district’s attorney or drafter (Drew Hanlon) performed the textual changes and that the policy now references RCW language; Johnson read the RCW phrase as “RCW 28 8.6420.01” while explaining the compliance changes. She noted the policy now explicitly adds the words ethnicity, homelessness, immigration and moves gender identity in the list of distinguished characteristics.
Board action and technical edits A board member asked the administration to check a few typographical items before posting the policy online (for example, the presenter and a trustee flagged a line that read “dog guide” and suggested it should read “guide dog”). The board took an advisory roll-call vote with the following result recorded in the meeting: the policy passed with a formal outcome noted as “Policy 3207 passes 5 0.” The advisory roll call included affirmative responses by the board’s voting members.
Discussion vs. decision The board’s vote was recorded after a brief discussion limited to ensuring technical corrections were made; trustees did not request substantive content changes beyond the stated compliance edits. Johnson and others confirmed they would incorporate suggested spelling and capitalization corrections prior to posting.
Ending: The policy will be posted after the administration makes the minor technical corrections suggested during the meeting.
