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Kennewick residents press board to bar biological males from girls' spaces; directors say they will seek legal clarity
Summary
Multiple residents urged the Kennewick School District to bar biological males from girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms and sports during public comment. Board members said they hear concerns and some directors said they will seek legal guidance and consider letters to state or federal authorities; no formal policy change was made at the meeting.
Several Kennewick residents used the district’s public comment period to urge the Kennewick School District Board of Directors to bar biological males from girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms and athletic teams, saying the practice violates Title IX and risks girls’ privacy.
The comments prompted board discussion and offers by individual directors to seek legal clarity. The board did not adopt any new policy or take a formal vote on restricting participation.
Resident Thomas Galliano told the board, “We urge our county school district administration to ban all biological males from girls' sports, girls' locker rooms, and girls' bathrooms.” Sylvia Lusfeldt, speaking as a supporter of Title IX, said, “Before I went into high school, we had no girls' sports. Because of Title IX, I was allowed to play sports in high school, and that's always meant a lot to me.” Other speakers — including Paul Iremesku and Tina Gregory — said they homeschool but wanted to encourage the district to protect girls’ spaces and sports.
Rama Abhagupta, identifying herself as a National Board–certified teacher, addressed a related legislative issue: the state proposal to suspend stipend payments for nationally certified teachers. She said, “Students of national board certified teachers can learn as much as 2 months of additional content in a school year,” and asked the board to make its views known to state lawmakers.
Several directors responded during the meeting. One director, who identified personal ties to athletics, said: “It is not fair. As far as from a school board perspective, I am spending a lot of time right now trying to wrap my head around what our actual viable options are.” Another director said publicly that they plan to draft and circulate a letter asking federal authorities for legal clarification; the director said they would share the letter with colleagues and invited individual board members to sign on but did not state that the board would take a formal vote to send it.
Board members emphasized the district’s limited control over federal and state law enforcement and funding. A board director noted that a portion of district funding is federal and warned that potential funding consequences would be a factor in any formal policy change.
The subject continued to draw public interest on social media and from multiple speakers at the meeting, but the board took no formal action during the session beyond discussion and informal commitments by individual members to pursue legal advice.
Ending
Board members said they will continue to monitor legal and legislative developments and that any formal policy action would be brought back to the board for consideration with legal counsel and staff recommendations.
