Lake Region and the district of OCSU need an equity policy. Throughout the months of the school year in OCSU, many schools have had run-ins with something an equity policy could solve. The word equity means “​​the quality of being fair and impartial.” If the district had an equity policy, it would ensure that all students, no matter their race, sexuality, gender identity, religion, economic class, or abilities would be treated the same as any other students. An equity policy would also ensure that people who discriminate against these students would receive more than a slap on the wrist, and they would hopefully learn from having meaningful consequences.

When you think of an equity policy and this district, you may think of a problem at the beginning of the year. A teacher in an elementary school asked their students for their pronouns and it resulted in the teacher getting doxxed by a state representative. Though there was an apology issued by said representative, this should not be able to happen. It’s okay to have a differencing opinion about pronouns, but doxxing a teacher should be off the table. Asking for pronouns isn’t wrong and shouldn’t be viewed as wrong. It is a way to help students feel comfortable in an environment where they should.

Pronouns seem to be misconceived as a ‘liberal subject’, but in fact you, and everyone you know, uses pronouns every day! A pronoun is “a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase and that refers either to the participants in the discourse.” And if you’re referring to other people or things, you use pronouns such as “he, she, theirs, its.” Teachers asking for pronouns should not be frowned upon, but encouraged! Just as with other personal things teachers allow students to disclose, if the student isn’t comfortable, they don’t have to participate. The action of asking for pronouns is not ‘forcing an agenda’.

Overall, I believe the equity policy should be implemented into LR and OCSU’s curriculum. Students should go to school feeling safe, knowing they can feel safe here. This isn’t about forcing students or teachers to participate in things or activities they feel uncomfortable with; it’s about helping and encouraging them to understand how to make everyone feel comfortable and accepted.