
MLSD board determines no civil rights infringement
Feb. 26—MOSES LAKE — In the Feb. 20 meeting of the Moses Lake School Board, the issue of equity in physical education resurfaced, spurred by a civil rights complaint submitted by Larry Dagnon, a teacher at North Elementary which he presented at the previous Feb. 6 meeting.
The complaint claims the district has disproportionately impacted minority students with reduced physical education resources.
"I cannot stress to you enough the impact that the discrimination has on the kids," Dagnon said. "They are sad; they want things to go back to normal. When I was listening to the student representatives hearing kids want school to go back to normal ... What gets kids to school? PE is one of the big ones."
School board member Ryan Coulston made a motion saying no civil right violations have taken place. School board vice-chair Carla Urias seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously by the board.
During the Feb. 6 board meeting, Dagnon presented his concerns regarding the allocation of physical education teachers across the district's 11 elementary schools.
According to previous meetings from the Moses Lake School District, Garden Heights Elementary, Lakeview Elementary, Larson Heights Elementary and North Elementary all receive one 30-minute period once a week for physical education.
Other schools are on a weekly ABC rotation, meaning they have gym every third day, resulting in some weeks where students get PE once a week and some weeks they get it twice a week. Groff Elementary has PE once or twice a week for either 30 or 35 minutes. Longview Elementary gets one or two 40-minute gym sessions. Park Orchard Elementary and Peninsula Elementary get one or two 30-minute sessions a week. Sage Point Elementary gets one to two 40-to-45-minute sessions a week.
Knolls Vista Elementary gets two physical education periods weekly for 30 minutes. Then, Midway Elementary gets two or three sessions of 35 minutes each, depending on the semester.
According to RCW 28A.230.040, students in elementary schools must receive at least 100 minutes of physical education every week. However, right now, the only school within MLSD that is fulfilling that requirement is Midway Elementary for one of its two semesters.
With budget cuts caused by the district's recent financial crisis, there are only seven full-time elementary school physical education teachers. Four of the elementary schools share two PE teachers. Garden Heights and Lakeview share a teacher. North Elementary and Larson Height Elementary share another teacher.
"What that looks like right now is in our school, you could have as many as 35 minutes a week, but a lot of the time it's zero minutes," Dagnon said during the Feb. 6 meeting. "My own classroom has only had it once a month where they've had PE. You're supposed to have 100 minutes per week."
He said students in schools with mostly-minority populations are the ones most affected by the situation, causing unfair treatment of those students. Those campuses include North and Larson Heights which have a high percentage of minority students.
Dagnon accused the school district of using misleading data to downplay the issue, saying the district's response failed to accurately reflect the racial composition and needs of the affected schools. He said the district presented percentages of minority populations at various schools without giving a complete picture of how these populations are impacted by reduced programming.
"When I got a response from the district, you had pulled up the percentage of minority population for the entire schools of the elementaries," Dagnon said. "That doesn't show in an honest way really what's happening."
In response to the complaint, Michelle Musso, the district's HR director and civil rights coordinator, expressed appreciation for Dagnon's concerns but defended the district's actions.
"I also want to state that as a district we have repeatedly said we understand that reduced PE programming is not equitable across schools. We are clear and we know that," Musso said.
However, she maintained that the data analysis concluded no formal discrimination occurred.
"White students are receiving 81,812 minutes of PE programming per year, and minority students are receiving 79,799 minutes... The difference of 13 minutes annually is not significant and does not indicate discrimination," she said.
A critical point of contention was the methodology used to measure the impact of the cuts. Dagnon said that the analysis overlooked the realities faced by students in schools with significant minority populations.
He said a redistribution model could more equitably allocate PE resources based on need, arguing that "this is discrimination, and there's no other way to look at it."
During the meeting, board members sought clarity on the factors influencing the district's decision to limit PE resources at certain schools.
MLSD Superintendent Carol Lewis said the decisions were made based on a combination of school size, available resources and staff availability.
"We had to allocate the resources as best we could... The decision was made to keep full-time counselors at all of those schools," Lewis said, indicating that resource distribution was complicated by budgetary constraints. She also noted that if counselors had been let go to keep PE teachers, the conversation would be about a lack of counsellors instead.
During the Feb. 20 board meeting, community members expressed concerns about access to PE or lack thereof.
Andrea Carrillo, a parent health advocate, said, "Denying equitable access to PE is yet another example of how our most vulnerable students are left behind."
Guadalupe Collazo, another community member, echoed similar sentiments, highlighting that existing disparities reflect a broader inequity in the district's treatment of minority students.
When asked whether changing the current scheduling to address these inequities would be feasible mid-year, principals expressed concern over the potential impacts on other programs and services, especially for students with disabilities.
"Changing the schedule in March changes life skills schedules... It would change literally every teacher's schedule," explained one principal during the meeting, stressing the logistical challenges that such a move could entail.
As of now, according to MLSD Director of Public Relations Ryan Shannon, the district has passed the resolution saying no civil rights violations have taken place with no planned action in the future. However, Shannon said that if those who filed the specific civil rights complaint wish to continue, they could bring the cause directly to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for further investigation. Shannon said he is unaware of that action taking place.
"In some schools, they have more, in some schools, they have less, and we have presented that extensively to the board," Lewis said. "We've talked about it quite a lot, and that's one of the very first things that we want to fix if we have levy money and even if we don't have levy money, we need to even it out across our district. ... We know we will do that going forward into the next school year, one way or another."
PE time by campus:
Amount of physical education time each school receives weekly according to MLSD:
Washington State Requirement: 100 to 150 minutes
Garden Heights Elementary: 30 minutes
Groff Elementary: 30 to 70 minutes
Knolls Vista Elementary: 60 minutes
Lakeview Elementary: 30 minutes
Larson Heights Elementary: 30 minutes
Longview Elementary: 40 to 80 minutes
Midway Elementary: 70 to 105 minutes
North Elementary: 30 minutes
Park Orchard Elementary: 35 to 70 minutes
Peninsula Elementary: 30 to 60 minutes
Sage Point Elementary: 40 to 90 minutes

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
My son's old school board owes me an apology
On May 28, my son did something I didn't think possible just a few years ago. He graduated from high school with honors, and as a member of the school board, I handed him his diploma as he walked across the stage. If you'd told me this would happen five years ago, I would have laughed and then cried. My son, who has a learning disability, had been shut out of school during the pandemic. His grade point average fell from a 3.5 to a 1.5. For the better part of two years, I didn't see how he could get back on track. But while my son is now on a better path, I'm still dealing with the fallout of the school's treatment of him – and me. On June 12, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in a case I brought. I'm asking that school board to apologize for violating my constitutional right to free speech. I exercised that right in defense of my special-needs son, only for my elected officials to try to get me fired and even investigated by the federal government. I've been fighting this battle since the summer of 2020, when the Chippewa Valley School Board announced that classes would stay virtual for the 2020-21 school year. By then, my son had already spent three months in virtual learning, and every day was worse than the one before. My son's learning disability means that he needs one-on-one time with teachers. I worried that if he didn't get that for a full year, his education and life would be permanently harmed. The school board held public meetings that summer and fall, and out of concern for my son, I showed up to all of them. But the board members showed zero willingness to listen, much less show leadership by reopening school. I got frustrated, no question. But I didn't act inappropriately. I've been a police officer for 27 years, so I know how to handle myself in public. But while I never crossed a line, the school board did. In December, the deputy chief at my police station called me into his office and read an email he'd received from a school board member. It accused me of "veiled racism," and when that kind of language is leveled at a police officer, the meaning is obvious. I should be fired – simply for speaking in defense of my son. How I wish that were the end of it. I kept going to school board meetings, and I kept my cool despite being targeted. The following October, however, the school board president submitted a formal complaint to the Department of Justice. He accused me of "threatening comments," and once again, the subtext was clear. The day before, Attorney General Merrick Garland had written his memo ordering the FBI to go after parents who criticize educators and school board members. The memo was an obvious invitation to those who wanted to silence parents like me, of which there were countless during the pandemic. My son's school board jumped at the chance. I have no idea if the Justice Department took action. But I do know the school board—an elected government body – tried to punish me for daring to use my right to free speech. I also know that while the school board was targeting me, my son's situation deteriorated further. In 2021, I moved him into a school in a neighboring district, and I also ran for an open seat on the board. But I refused to let the old school board get away with its actions. Which brings me to the Sixth Circuit. I got here after a district court ruled that while I was targeted, I didn't suffer any harm. That's true – the school board didn't succeed in getting me fired or otherwise punished. But that's irrelevant. Government officials shouldn't be let off the hook simply because their targeting failed. If the federal courts let that argument stand, government officials across America will go after their opponents like never before. They'll be free to frighten anyone who dares question them, silencing citizens who try to hold them accountable. I refused to be silent, then or now. I'm asking the court to recognize that my constitutional rights were violated. And I want the court to order the school board to give me an apology. I'm astounded that none of the elected officials who targeted me have said those simple words – I'm sorry. Thank God that despite their best efforts, I'm still employed, and my son finished his education with flying colors.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
MPS plans to enhance student voice in decision-making, ensure students have seat on board
Milwaukee Public Schools is looking to reaffirm a half-century-old policy that would allow students to have a consistent seat on the School Board. The policy reaffirmation is taking place to see what students want revised within the current legislation, said School Board President Missy Zombor. The board hopes to cut down barriers to participation and appoint a student representative to sit on the board. Zombor said students may currently struggle to participate due to the number of board meetings, which can be difficult to attend on top of schoolwork and personal responsibilities. Additionally, she said, some meetings may not feel relevant to students. Zombor is seeking student feedback on which meetings they think make the most sense for representatives to attend. "This is about opening up that conversation," Zombor said. "How do they envision what would give them the most impact, and give them the most access to the board in a way that helps them share what's most important to them?" MPS adopted Administrative Policy 8.18: Student Involvement in Decision Making in December 1971 and most recently revised the policy in July 2012. The policy states that as societal changes take place, schools make decisions that "vitally affect" students, who "wish to be involved in these decisions and express their feelings about them." The MPS Superintendent's Student Advisory Council, comprising student representatives from each high school in the district, seeks to create dialogue between students and the superintendent. Administrative Policy 8:18 states that the SSAC should develop a process for two students to be selected annually to sit with the board during deliberation. These two students are free to attend all non-executive board sessions, receive all nonconfidential materials and speak to the board, under the administrative policy. However, students on the board are not allowed to vote or make motions. Zombor explained that MPS is bound by state statutes that require voting members to be selected by the electorate. Despite this, she said the board will still try to give students to as much access as possible. "Having a student on the board helps remind us that every decision we make impacts students," Zombor said. "I'm really looking forward to reaffirming that policy." David Valdés, student engagement associate for SSAC, said it's important to him to see students expressing themselves freely to adults who are willing to listen. He cited school safety and mental health as two concerns that students frequently bring up in SSAC meetings. "We need to build a bridge so that our kids are able to speak openly about what's going on in their school without shame," Valdés said. "They should be able to have adults in their life in the district who are willing to listen to them." Having a student seat on a school board isn't unique to MPS, Zombor said. Some nearby school districts already have this in their administrative policy. Kaymin Phillips, a senior at Shorewood High School, has served as one of the Shorewood School Board student representatives for a year. The student body elected her in June 2024, and she began attending biweekly board meetings in September. Phillips said she applied for the position her junior year because she's always been interested in politics and felt it was a chance to be involved in a "mini government." "As a minority, I know a lot of people don't feel heard, and I know that having those voices in that type of seat is very important," Phillips said. "Being able to advocate for my fellow students and everything feels good, to know that we're helping make a difference." Phillips said it makes her hopeful to hear that MPS is working to implement student voices on its board. She said students should use the opportunity to speak up for their teachers with everything MPS is going through. On May 13, the Shorewood School Board voted unanimously to eliminate one staff position and reduce three other positions to part time. Phillips said she and other students pitched ideas to the board opposing the cuts and supporting their teachers. "My voice really helped during that decision," Phillips said. "I feel like they were just thinking of money, but not thinking of the students who it was affecting, cutting classes that we enjoy and cutting teachers." The policy reaffirmation will be requested at the Committee on Legislation, Rules and Policies meeting June 12. Zombor said the School Board has asked Valdés for any student-recommended policy changes and has invited students to reach out to board members directly with their thoughts. "This is a really great way for students to get involved in the district and get involved in change, and learn how one person can make change through policy," Zombor said. The immediate implementation of a student seat on the school board will depend on whether SSAC students can elect a representative by the beginning of the school year, Zombor said. She added that while the student representatives would ideally start by the September board cycle, she wants them to participate in some sort of orientation before jumping into meetings. In the future, Zombor said the policy can always be revised to reflect what works best for students. "I feel like a lot of schools might think it's cool to add a representative position just for the outside look and showing that 'We value our students,'" Phillips said. "But I think it's really important for the actual school members to be listening to what they say, instead of just having them there to listen." Contact Mia Thurow at mthurow@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MPS School Board president wants to add student seat
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Hernandez wins second election for Winona ISD school board seat
WINONA, Texas (KETK) – Winona ISD's second election for Board of Trustees Place 3 has a winner after the district's first election on May 3 ended in a tie. UPDATE: Winona ISD school board candidates address voters ahead of second election The challenger, Luis Hernandez, has won the seat with 244 votes against incumbent Randy Hawkins' 181 votes, according to unofficial Smith County election results. Hernandez and the incumbent Hawkins first ran against each other for the seat in the May 3 election but that election resulted in a rare tie where both candidates got 137 votes. After a recount confirmed the equal vote counts, Winona ISD moved to schedule a second election on Saturday, which Hernandez has now won. Hernandez ran on expanding the district's athletic programs and implementing a 3-year, 5-year or a 10-year plan. To hear more from Hernandez, check out the video above where he spoke with KETK's Ashlyn Anderson about his plans for the district. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.