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Student Clubs

Board Policy 3220 and 3220P
Board Policy 3223

Enumclaw High School Activities and Clubs
Enumclaw Middle School Activities and Clubs
Thunder Mountain Middle School Activities and Clubs

Pride Clubs are student-led and student-organized school clubs that aim to create a safe, welcoming, and accepting school environment for all youth, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The clubs provide a supportive environment for LGBTQ+ students, have LGBTQ+ friends or family members, or include those that just care about LGBTQ+ issues. As with other student clubs, they are voluntary and open to all students.

What is the district policy on outside organizations meeting on school grounds?
Board Policy 4260 and 4260P
Board Policy 3223

The Equal Access Act
Staff Positions Related to Clubs

The Equal Access Act

The Equal Access Act of 1984 ensures that non-curricular student groups are afforded the same access to public secondary school facilities as other, similarly situated student groups. Based on decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts interpreting the Act, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the General Counsel provides the following guidance.

The Act applies to: (1) any public secondary school (2) that receives federal funds (3) and creates a limited open forum by allowing one or more non-curricular student groups to meet on its premises (4) during non-instructional time. Schools meeting these criteria are forbidden to prevent access or deny fair opportunity to students who wish to hold meetings on school grounds.

The Act does not mention specific types of student groups to which equal-access rights apply. It instead broadly provides that schools allowing at least one “non-curriculum related student group” may not deny comparable access to any other student group because of the “religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at [the group’s] meetings.” The Act, therefore, prohibits schools from banning student-led non-curricular groups because of the content of the speech at the groups’ meetings.

The Act identifies narrow exceptions; however, schools may not ban or suppress the speech of student groups based on a “desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that always accompany an unpopular viewpoint.”

Staff Positions Related to Clubs

Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement Appendix B (available on our website) The Enumclaw Education Association and the Enumclaw School District are committed to providing opportunities for students beyond the school day. Each year, positions will be created and reviewed for the purpose of addressing student and building needs. These positions are intended to address intramurals, clubs, activities and student learning opportunities. The development of these positions should reflect student interests and needs.

Gender Inclusivity

Board Policy 3211 and 3211P

Per the above policy:
The board believes in fostering an educational environment that is safe and free of discrimination for all students, regardless of gender expression, gender identity, or sex. To that end, the board recognizes the importance of an inclusive approach toward transgender and gender-expansive students with regard to key terms, communication and the use of names and pronouns, student records, confidential health and education information, communication, restroom and locker room use and accessibility, sports and physical education, dress codes, and other school activities, in order to provide these students with an equal opportunity for learning and achievement.

Science Standards and Evolution

How many grade levels is the theory of evolution taught? Is the story of creation taught?

Below is a link to current Next Generation Science Standards utilized by the Enumclaw School District. For more information please visit: https://www.nextgenscience.org/overview-topics.

Middle School Standards

MS. Natural Selection and Adaptations
MS. Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms
MS. History of Earth

High School Standards

HS. Inheritance and Variation of Traits
HS. Natural Selection and Evolution

ESSB 5044/DEI/Critical Race Theory

Frequently Asked Questions about ESSB 5044, Critical Race Theory and Equity in the Enumclaw School District

What is ESSB 5044?

What is ESSB 5044?
ESSB 5044 (which created a new section of 28.345 RCW) titled AN ACT Relating to equity, cultural competency, and dismantling institutional racism in the public school system, is a bill passed by the Washington state legislature and signed into law by the governor in April 2021. Among other things, the law requires WSSDA to identify or develop and periodically update governance training programs that align with Cultural Competency, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion standards for school director governance.

The law requires a professional training day for school district staff that focuses on topics such as diversity, equity and inclusion. This bill has no component of training or curriculum for students.

What do the terms equity, diversity and inclusion (sometimes referred to as DEI) and cultural competency mean?

Those terms are defined in ESSB 5044 as follows:

Diversity describes the presence of similarities and differences within a given setting, collective, or group based on multiple factors including race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, age, educational status, religion, geography, primary language, culture, and other characteristics and experiences;
Equity includes developing, strengthening, and supporting procedural and outcome fairness in systems, procedures, and resource distribution mechanisms to create equitable opportunities for all individuals, and also includes eliminating barriers that prevent the full participation of individuals and groups; and
Inclusion describes intentional efforts and consistent sets of actions to create and sustain a sense of respect, belonging, safety, and attention to individual needs and backgrounds that ensure full access to engagement and participation in available activities and opportunities.
Cultural Competency includes knowledge of student cultural histories and contexts, as well as family norms and values in different cultures; knowledge and skills in accessing community resources and community and parent outreach; and skills in adapting instruction to students' experiences and identifying cultural contexts for individual students. Culturally Competent educational leaders have a mindset and behaviors that enable them to foster policies and practices that provide the opportunity to effectively engage with and serve diverse students, educators and community members.

What is Critical Race Theory (CRT)?

Critical race theory comes from 1970s academia when legal scholars — including the late civil rights activist and Harvard Law School professor Derrick Bell — coined the phrase as a way to describe how embedded racism affects America’s legal and social systems. A decades-old academic concept that seeks to explain why there are racial disparities in our country. CRT is a FRAMEWORK that examines how systems, policies and the law perpetuate systemic racism. It is called Critical Race Theory because it asks you to look critically at systems to better understand the origins of racial inequities. This knowledge can then be used to mitigate and stem the inequities at the root cause (ie. the system, policy or law).

What is the Enumclaw School District Training and Teaching?

We continue to provide training to ESD Staff on topics of Cultural Competency, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
We continue to provide additional “teaching tools” for teachers to support and teach ALL students.
We are examining our system and policies to ensure equitable impact for all students and staff.
Our equity work is not about “forcing into stereotypes of oppressed vs oppressor” or having individuals “feel ashamed of who they are or guilty for being a certain race”. It is about creating SAFE LEARNING SPACES for ALL.
The goal of our equity work is not to put up obstacles or to make people feel guilty about who they are. It is about creating a culture that is safe and welcoming to all. It is about allowing everyone to show up as themselves, be respected for it, and have the same opportunities as everyone else.

Enumclaw School District administrative staff participated in the WASA book study of "Caste" to meet the training requirement for SB 5044. Please see the description of the book study from WASA below:

WASA - Washington Association of School Administrators - Equity

Book Study
Using the book “Caste” as a launching pad for learning about the WHY of leading for racial equity, leaders will push their own thinking, vocabulary, and moral imperative on this work, while leaving with modules they can take and use with their district/school teams, moving the organizational culture towards equity and excellence.

Sex Education

Below is a link to current topics utilized by the Enumclaw School District for sexual health education. Also included is a link to OSPI for further information.

Materials are available to view in advance. Parent(s)/guardian(s) have the option to opt out of the lessons at school.

Social Emotional Learning

Our PK-5 schools address social emotional learning in several ways. Our counselors teach lessons using three primary resources: Kelso’s Choice, Second Step, and Conscious Discipline. Classroom teachers do not teach SEL as a separate subject or class, it is integrated throughout the day and often taught in the moment when incidents or opportunities arise. Our primary resource for addressing SEL needs is Conscious Discipline. Conscious Discipline is a trauma informed, brain researched program focused on safety, connection and problem solving.

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