Peninsula board suspends staff expression policy pending joint procedure review

The Peninsula School District Board of Directors voted March 20 to suspend its recently adopted Staff Expression Policy 5,254 while the district and its labor partners develop a corresponding procedure.

Board President Wimberley called for clarification after community members and staff raised concerns about the policy’s effects, and Director David moved to suspend it pending further work by the superintendent and a task force. Director David said, “I would like to move that the board suspend policy 5,254 related to staff expression as we, wait further direction from Superintendent Barr and your work, related to the procedure and how to better roll this out.” The motion passed unanimously.

The suspension is intended to give the district time to write an implementing procedure in collaboration with employee groups so staff understand what the policy allows or prohibits and how it will be applied. Superintendent Kirsten Barr and district staff told the board they had consulted with the district that originally drafted a similar policy and would engage labor representatives in drafting local procedures.

Board members and district staff framed the vote as an attempt to separate policy (the board’s formal rule) from procedure (how the district enforces or implements it) and to reduce confusion among educators and community members. The board emphasized that the district already has other civility and conduct policies; the concern was that enacting a separate policy without a clear, locally tailored procedure risked unintended consequences.

Next steps outlined at the meeting: the superintendent’s office will convene district staff and union representatives to draft a written procedure; the board expects to review that procedure before any enforcement. The board did not adopt any discipline rules at the meeting and made no changes to existing labor contracts or other personnel actions.