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Commissioners question Kelso School District homeless‑liaison contract over funding and policy concerns
Summary
A proposed Health & Human Services contract to fund a homeless‑liaison in Kelso School District drew objections from multiple commissioners who cited district budget capacity, past funding to Community House, and concerns about the district's gender‑inclusive policy; staff offered to pull the item for further answers.
Health and Human Services presented a proposed contract with Kelso School District to fund a school homeless‑liaison position that would help connect students and families to housing and school supports. The board heard concerns and several commissioners said they would not support the item at Tuesday’s consent agenda.
Gina James (Health and Human Services) said the district representatives previously described the liaison work and staff offered to bring additional district staff back if the board wanted more information. “They were here a couple months back talking to the board about the services they provide to homeless students and their families,” James said.
Multiple commissioners opposed placing the contract on the agenda, citing three main objections. One commissioner said the district has roughly a $90 million budget and should be able to fund the position internally. Another commissioner noted that the county previously gave $2 million to Community House for related student services and questioned whether existing programs are being used as intended.
The most forceful objection focused on the district’s gender‑inclusive policy (identified in the discussion as policy 3211). One commissioner criticized the policy, saying it allows a student to identify as a different gender and that the school could, in the commissioner’s words, ‘‘not even tell the parents’’ about a student’s preferences; the commissioner described that possibility as unacceptable and said they would not support funding the school while the policy remained in place.
Gina James offered to pull the item from the agenda to obtain additional answers from Kelso School District staff; commissioners agreed that if an item is unlikely to pass, staff should seek additional information or remove it from the consent agenda.
No final decision on the contract was made at Monday’s meeting; staff said they could either pull the item or return with additional information from the district.
