Nyssa School District 26 board debates inclusive-pronoun changes and policy clarifications ahead of final vote

Board members spent the bulk of the meeting reviewing August 2025 policy updates recommended by OSBA (the Oregon School Boards Association), focusing on several contested changes and clarifications.

A central point of contention was the recommended removal of gendered pronouns (for example, replacing "his/her" with gender-neutral phrasing). One committee member (Speaker 4) opposed that change, saying it was unnecessary and describing it as "part of the woke agenda" and a waste of time. Staff (Speaker 6) and other board members explained the updates aim to be more inclusive of students who use pronouns beyond he/she and that many of the edits are stylistic rather than substantive. Staff said the policy package will return to the Monday meeting for formal action, and board members may present motions to keep or restore particular language.

Curriculum language: A committee member (Speaker 4) questioned a line that would require instructional materials be "inclusive of populations represented in a global society," calling it overly broad and impractical to operationalize. Staff (Speaker 6) suggested removing the bracketed phrase and focusing policy language on nondiscrimination and appropriate representation rather than an expansive global standard.

Suitable-materials and challenge process: Speaker 4 noted that Senate Bill 1098 allows districts to adopt policies on unsuitable materials and asked how the district will distinguish suitability across grade levels and what challenge procedure would apply. Staff said the district uses administrative regulations and an existing complaint/record-review process and that a separate procedure for material challenges is being drafted.

Graduation requirements and veterans' diplomas: Board members asked which credit and diploma language in the draft were state-mandated versus district choices. Staff clarified several listed items are state requirements. A separate discussion focused on a policy provision that would allow the district to issue diplomas to veterans; speakers expressed concern the ORS statutory citation had been removed from the draft. Several members recommended reinserting a qualifier such as "pursuant to Oregon law" or an ORS citation and asked staff to seek clarification from OSBA legal counsel before adoption.

Other administrative clarifications: Members asked about the personal-electronic-devices AR (whether the previously explicit stepwise discipline steps were intentionally removed), the labeling of the sports pre-participation physical form link (which appears as "physical examination form" on the state site), and the policy phrase "information may be released for appropriate procedures" (staff confirmed standard public-records request procedures apply).

Quotes that capture the tone of the debate include a committee member who said, "It's to me, it's just part of the woke agenda to get rid of his and hers designations," and a staff member who explained the intent: "We're doing more inclusive because we're saying there's probably more than just 2 of those pronouns that fit..." Both lines are from the transcript and reflect the positions expressed in the meeting.

Next steps: Staff will present a finalized set of edits for the board's Monday meeting. Board members may either accept the OSBA-recommended package as presented, approve it with selective restorations (for example, retaining "his/her" in specific places), or vote item-by-item.

Sources: Nyssa School District 26 board policy discussion (Transcript SEG 341—SEG 755 and SEG 761—SEG 1266).