OLYMPIA — In late January, following an incident of racism during a basketball game between Thurston County schools that blew up on social media, students decided it was time for change.
Students, leaders, caregivers and more from all three high schools in North Thurston Public Schools gathered for a student-focused meeting, according to a letter sent to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The letter was obtained by The Olympian.
All high school administrators were invited to the meeting, according to the letter. Angela Lee-Pope, the acting principal of River Ridge High School, and Antonio Sandifer, the district’s director of equity, were in attendance.
There, they came to the conclusion that administration and district officials were to blame for harm done to Black, Indigenous and people of color students and other marginalized communities when it comes to the handling of racism, sexual harassment and violence in schools.
Soon after, the group wrote a list of demands and announced their plans to strike, saying it would go for as long as necessary until administrators fixed how they address the issues and protected those who participated in the strike.
But more than a month later, students and school leaders say all their demands haven’t been met, even though many of them exist in the district’s governance policies on the Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying.
Some of these include the students right to gather and protest, the establishment of long-term mental health counselors, student and adult advocates, processes for handling racism, sexual harassment and more.
In response, BSU facilitator Christie Tran, in partnership with students and caregivers, set up a legal fund donation page to pursue a class-action lawsuit against NTPS administration, or the state superintendent. Their goal is to raise $10,000 to cover legal fees, and they’ve raised $2,405 as of Thursday, March 3.
The letter says the groups are acting in their best interests to secure their rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “prohibits the discrimination in public schools because of race, color, or national origin.” They are also working to hold administrators accountable to the Title IX Constitutional Amendment of 1972 that “prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
In the letter to the state superintendent, students said that during meetings with administration, they found leaders were “uninformed of these policies and they repeatedly acted in violation to those policies over the course of this school year and countless others serving to harm generations of students.”
The letter also says students who participated in the week-long strike have continued to suffer academically and have not received accommodations for missing classes during the time, despite that being promised by administration.
“Some teachers have refused accommodations and students in the strike have ‘Fs’ in their first semester courses,” Tran said. “Students should not have to be placed in a position that requires them to sacrifice their academics to fight for their rights to a learning environment free of racism and rape culture or to sacrifice their sense of safety and security to access education.”
Following the walkout in February, NTPS Superintendent Deb Clemens and School Board President David Newkirk issued a statement saying harm has occurred in the school district. They said they are listening to student feedback on the investigation process and reviewing opportunities to update protocols.
They said school policy allows students to peacefully protest, so as long as they do not interfere with normal school operations. Citing alleged impacts to the Life Skills program at River Ridge High School, it led to the administration no longer allowing students who were participating in the walkout to protest on campus.
Teachers in the Life Skills program later wrote district leaders saying that to call out a specific group of students for being affected by the protest contributes to a culture of division between students and staff. The administration later revised the statement to say the work environment as a whole was disrupted by student protests, without any specific examples.
Laila Markland, 18, has been in the River Ridge BSU for two years now. Over the last month, schoolwork has been put on the back burner while she’s fought for students’ rights.
She said the strike and demands are a culmination of many years of dissatisfaction with NTPS administration and the handling of racism and harassment.
Laila and other BSU members told administrators on Feb. 28 that much of the district-wide work the schools promised to do in response to their strike demands is work they should have already been doing under district policy. They walked out and said it’s time to go above them.
“We don’t trust them to do what they keep saying they’re going to do,” she said. “I think there needs to be new administration, new district officials and board officials. It’s not really about hiring more educators or administrators of color, it’s more hiring anti-racist administrators who are willing to do this work so students don’t feel like they have to take it on.”
Laila said the BSU has started conducting a student vote against administrators. As of Monday, more than 30 students had participated.
Courtney Schrieve, executive director of public relations for NTPS, said the district is continuing to work on ways to implement diversity, equity and inclusion into all systems that make the district work. She said the district is training staff and administrators in restorative practices and how to beef up equity teams in the schools.
Schrieve said the district has plans to have Restorative Centers in all of its high schools by the 2023-24 school year.
Antonio Sandifer, the district’s equity and language director, said the work the district is doing to address equity and inclusion is still in its early stages, but it’s something they’re prioritizing for the future. In response to the claim that administrators don’t follow district policy, he said that isn’t true.
“The NTPS do follow district policy and concerns regarding processes are addressed through a well-documented appeal process,” Sandifer said. “We are dedicated to educating students about their rights and making the process for filing a complaint more accessible.”
Sandifer said the district recently simplified its online reporting form that is available for students on the district website. He said the form has been shared with BSU co-advisers, and they’re continuing to work with the groups on addressing short-term goals.
“We admire and respect the students for using their voices to speak out against injustices in helping us improve the district,” he said.
Laila’s parents Amber and Anthony Markland have taken on a lot of the out-of-school responsibilities of running the BSU.
Amber said it’s inspiring and motivating to work so closely with such passionate young people, but she feels the school leaders really don’t understand that students are capable of making change like they are.
“It’s frustrating because we have students who now are doing adult work,” Amber said. “They’re doing the work of administrators. They’re doing really good work, and that’s what’s been left out of the story.”
