Watch KSD School Board Discussion of Critical Race Theory -VIDEO-

During their recent board retreat on June 8th, the Kennewick School District heard an in-depth presentation from member Gabe Galbreath, who questioned whether ideas or principles of Critical Race Theory are being weaved into local education.

The district does NOT currently, and doesn't plan to use CRT directly

The board attended a CRT presentation in August 2021, likely the same one given to Richland's School board.  Per requirements from WA State Senate Bill 5044, which passed last year, educators are required to undergo training mandated from the state level down, and this does include exposure to CRT.

In short, the core of CRT is that the basic foundations of United States society, government, education, and social and economic systems, are systemically racist. Meaning, that racism is built into the system from the beginning. It ignores the gains made by the Civil Rights movement and attempts to assign blame to certain ethnic groups.

   Local Districts have control of their curriculum

Per various state and other laws, including the Constitution, local school boards have the right to control what educational programs they adopt, and KSD has not chosen to utilize direct CRT.   However, board member Galbreath gave several examples of what he believes are the principles and tenants of CRT that are being  'weaved' into educational programs.

He referenced a teacher's book club at Kennewick High, where they have been reading a series of books as part of a professional development series.  Galbreath, reading from some of their direct emails, said the group had just finished up with a work called "White Fragility, Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Race."  He also referenced several other similar related texts.

Galbreath said the email referenced how the club will be meeting to discuss each reading, and "how we will apply it at Kennewick High."

He also went on to list several other examples of how, despite not utilizing actual CRT books, literature, and study materials, he believes its principles and tenants are working their way into the District.

The video of his presentation is below.  For ease of viewing, we saved the video so it will begin with his presentation at the 3-hour 20-minute mark of the meeting.