Discrimination on the agenda at board meeting

After revising its Title IX policy less than a year ago, Cloquet school board members voted Monday to revert to the previous version of the policy as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent executive order recognizing only two sexes.

Cloquet superintendent Michael Cary said the policy — which addresses discrimination on the basis of sex and led to equal funding for male and female athletic programs 52 years ago — has become a “political beachball.”

“One administration says it this way, the other administration chooses to change it, then the next federal administration that comes in changes it again,” Cary said.

Usually changes are a multiyear process, he said, with the new administration reviewing the law and crafting changes, then the Minnesota School Board Association offering guidance to local school districts so they can comply. In this case, school district attorneys sent out a recommendation to all of their clients across the state, suggesting they simply revert to the previous version.

According to Education Week, Trump’s gender identity order states that government documents such as passports only allow applicants to describe themselves as male or female. It tackles civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on sex — such as Title IX — and reverses the Biden administration’s expansion of the law to apply to discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Cary told the board the law “still provides the same protections that it did before,” explaining the change will apply mostly to how the school district will investigate any formal complaints of sexual harassment or discrimination based on sex.

“They’re guiding us to revert back to this until the time that this is settled through federal court,” he said.

Land Acknowledgement

During a committee-of-the-whole meeting on Monday, board members met with members of the equity committee and others regarding work on a land acknowledgement, which aims to help people better understand and consider the history of the land. The statement is meant to be read aloud, before public events, for example.

The current verson acknowledges both the Ojibwe and the Dakota people that preceded them in this area. A draft of the acknowledgement follows:

“The Cloquet Public School District respectfully acknowledges that the land and water that sustain us are the current and ancestral homeland of the Ojibwe and Dakota. We validate the painful history of genocide and efforts to remove Indigenous people from this land — land that continues to hold deep spiritual and personal significance for its original stewards. We honor and respect all Indigenous people as well as their retained treaty rights, tribal sovereignty, and cultural resilience. We stand with our neighbors from the Fond du Lac Nation Naagaajiiwanong, and honor the wisdom, cultural gifts and strength which are shared in our schools and classrooms. We are committed to fighting injustices in all its forms for the health and wellness of our students, families, and community.”

People are invited to send feedback on the land acknowledgement to equity coordinator Wendy Waha at [email protected].

In other matters

Monday, student representative Johanna Bernu told board members the senior class is asking that all students be able to decorate their graduation caps.

“A lot of indigenous students decorate their caps and other people cannot,” Bernu said. “That creates some contention between the two people, because why are these students getting to decorate it and you don’t get to? I’m just here to bring that up.”

Cary told Bernu what he said the board told students last year: Please bring it up with the high school principal and vice principal first. He also recommended they talk to social studies teacher Chris Swanson if they needed any assistance.