Every student is welcome. Every student is valued. Every student matters.

Three Rivers School District believes in providing a safe, equitable education experience for all students.

This means that student success will not be predicated nor predetermined by race, ethnicity, language of origin, family economics, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, disability or religion.

The principle of equity goes beyond formal equality where all people are treated the same. Instead, equity fosters an inclusive and barrier-free environment in which everyone will fully benefit. The district is committed to applying this principle of equity to all policies, programs, operations, practices and resource allocations. In accordance to state and federal law, all students will have access and opportunity to a high-quality education free from judgement, discrimination, barriers and disparities.

With the Every Student Policy, Three Rivers School District is committed to the following:

1. Follow all state and federal laws and policies;

2. Every student can learn with adequate support at the highest levels when ALL staff provide equitable access and opportunity for learning, and holds every student to high expectations;

3. Maximizing the academic achievement of every child requires allocating resources equitably, not necessarily equally;

4. Everyone in the district will act to eliminate disparities to prepare every student for college, career and life;

5. Each school will foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for ALL;

6. Assert value in the identity of each student by acknowledging and welcoming differences;

7. Incorporate the voice, culture and perspectives of students, staff, families and communities that reflect student demographics to support and enhance student access;

8. Identify and counteract bias practices;

9. Provide multiple and varied opportunities for a diverse student body;

10. Actively recruit, hire, and retain staff that reflect student demographics at all organizational levels and support employees to engage in culturally responsive practices and delivery of quality instruction;

11. Ensure that the TRSD Strategic Plan embraces the principle of equity as a key feature and presents measurable outcomes to prepare all students for college, career and life;

12. School board leaders will ensure staff are educated in implicit bias, gender diversity, anti‐transphobia, culturally responsive practices, restorative justice, equitable access to education, and student advocacy.

13. Harassment, bullying, bias incidents and symbols of hate will not be tolerated under this policy.

14. Three Rivers is committed to working closely with families to promote and ensure the best possible educational opportunities and outcomes for our students.

Three Rivers School District is also committed to upholding the legal and legislative rules when it comes to the basis of discrimination.

• OAR 581-021-0045/0046: Discrimination Prohibited in Schools/ORS 326.051 & ORS 659.850 explicitly states: Discrimination means any act that unreasonably differentiates treatment, intended or unintended, or any act that is fair in form but discriminatory in operation, either of which is based on age, disability, national origin, race, color, marital status, religion, sex or sexual orientation.

• The Oregon Equality Act of 2007 also amended many statutes to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

• ORS 174.100 defines sexual orientation as an individual’s actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or gender identity, regardless of whether the individual’s gender identity, appearance, expression or behavior differs from that traditionally associated with the individual’s sex at birth.

• Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools, including sexual harassment and gender-based harassment.

• Three Rivers School District Policy ACB/ACB-AR, All Students Belong

Definitions

Cisgender refers to an individual whose gender identity aligns with their sex assigned at birth.

Ethnicity: differences in humans on the basis of language and shared culture.

Gender expression refers to the way a person expresses gender, such as clothing, hairstyles, activities or mannerisms.

Gender identity is the deeply held sense or psychological knowledge that individuals have of their gender, regardless of the biological sex they were assigned at birth. Everyone has a gender identity. Common examples include “male/man/boy,” “female/woman/girl,” “trans/transgender,” “gender variant,” “gender nonconforming,” “agender,” or any combination of these terms.

Gender nonconforming (also known as Gender Expansive, Gender Variant, or Gender Creative) is a term that refers to individuals whose gender expression does not follow social expectations or stereotypes based on their sex assigned at birth.

Preferred Gender Pronouns are the pronoun markers (he/she/they) used to describe a person.

Race: grouping of humans based on shared physical, behavioral or social qualities generally viewed as

distinct by society.

Sex or Biological Sex is a label a person is assigned at birth, often based on a medical professional’s interpretation of the newborn’s physical characteristics. Common examples may be “male,” “female,” or “intersex.”

Transgender describes people whose gender identity is different from the biological sex they were assigned at birth.

Equity in education is the process of reforming practices, policies, and procedures at the school and district levels to support academic fairness and inclusion and ensure that every child has the resources, teachers, interventions, and supports they need to be successful.

The following definitions apply to OAR 943-070-through 943-070-0070:

American Indian or Alaska Native means an individual: (a) Identifying as a member of the federal demographic category meaning an individual that is a member of a federally-recognized Indian tribe or an individual who: (A) Is a member of a tribe, band, or other organized group of Indians, including those tribes, bands, or groups terminated since 1940 and those recognized now or in the future by the State of Oregon, or an individual who is a descendant, in the first or second degree, of any such member. (B) Is an Eskimo or Aleut or other Alaska Native. (C) Is considered by the Secretary of the Department of Interior to be an Indian for any purpose. (D) Is determined to be an Indian under regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. (b) Having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and maintaining a tribal affiliation or community attachment.

African means an individual identifying with or descending from any of the racial groups of Africa (2) whose national origin is from a country on the continent of Africa. (3) “African American or Black” is a federal demographic category meaning an individual identifying with or descending from any of the black racial groups of Africa.

Asian is a federal demographic category meaning an individual identifying with or descending from any of the original peoples of East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia including Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

White is a federal demographic category meaning an individual having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as “White” or report entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Arab, Moroccan, or Caucasian.

Hispanic or Latino is a federal demographic category meaning an individual of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander is a federal demographic category meaning an individual having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

Other means an individual identifies with a demographic designation not listed.

Primary racial or ethnic identity means the race or ethnicity with which an individual most identifies when opting to choose from multiple designations.