Board reviews revisions to sexual-harassment, veterans diploma and safety policies

District administrators presented multiple governance-policy updates at the June 1 Mukilteo board meeting. Dr. Pat Hagerty described revisions to policy 3214 to focus specifically on sexual harassment (the transcript references "Title N" when discussing federal rules), remove more technical Title N legalism from the student policy, clarify the threshold for a hostile educational environment, and emphasize prompt, practical response steps including referrals to adult and child protective services when appropriate. Hagerty said the revisions narrow the prior broader language that had included nonsex-based discrimination and that some discrimination protections remain in other district policies.

Hagerty also presented policy 2412, which would allow the district to issue high-school diplomas to honorably discharged members of the armed forces who left school to serve in World War II, the Korean conflict or the Vietnam era; he said the provision aligns with WASA model language and leaves discretion to the superintendent or designee to identify veterans with substantial ties to the district.

John Pullman, director of business services, presented two additional modest changes. In the school-based threat-assessment policy the district replaced the phrase "emergency expulsion" with "emergency removal" to emphasize a temporary, safety-focused removal that allows time to convene a multi-disciplinary team and put supports in place; such removal can be converted to suspension or expulsion if warranted. Pullman also proposed clarifying that the district does not conduct trauma-uninformed live-simulation active-shooter lockdown drills and to specify where monthly drill records are kept (school office and safety department).

Board members asked several clarifying questions: whether narrowing the sexual-harassment policy reduces protections for certain protected classes (staff noted other policies retain discrimination protections), how the district defines "unwelcome" conduct versus power-imbalanced but consensual interactions, and whether shifting language to "removal" carries different legal consequences than "expulsion." Staff said they will check cross-references, ensure consistency across policies and return with clarified language as needed. No final votes on these policy revisions were taken at this meeting.