POULSBO, Wash. — Thirteen North Kitsap School District graduates affiliated with tribes received special honors Wednesday in a ceremony that was nearly canceled.
For decades the district has held a special ceremony, a “Native American Graduation Honoring,” for its students with Native American ties.
Earlier this school year Superintendent Dr. Laurynn Evans proposed ending the tradition to save the district money.
Evans said the district needed to cut 6-7% of its budget for the next school year. At least two teachers were laid off.
“We began to look at things that we would be able to reduce that would be furthest away from children’s day-to-day experience in classrooms,” said Evans.
She said attendance had been dropping recently at the Native American event.
But Evans said as word spread about her idea, she started hearing from the community.
“I heard a lot of stories about how, regardless of the attendance, it’s the significance of the event that is important to our tribes,” said Evans.
She decided to keep the event in place after hearing from tribal members.
“I think I was looking at this through the lens of finances,” said Evans, “I really appreciate very much these tribal members who came to speak with me to talk to me about looking at this through my heart.”
In past years the district has paid for the event to be held at ballrooms on Suquamish or Port Gamble S’Klallam properties.
This year’s event was hosted at the district’s headquarters. A spokesperson said the event cost about $1,000 in catering and staff time.
“I was really shocked to hear it wasn’t going to happen, but in the end, it did,” said Joe Price, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe member.
He went through the ceremony when he graduated from North Kitsap High School in 1989 and his daughter participated last year.
“It’s a pretty big milestone for tribal graduates,” said Price. “It’s the least the school district can do to help us honor our graduates.”
The district hired an outside investigator to look into more than 80 complaints about alleged racial discrimination in the district.
Parents and students have complained about racial tensions, slurs and discrimination on North Kitsap campuses.
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