EXCLUSIVE: Mothers’ Day cancelled at Seattle-area school to avoid ‘triggering’ students —Pride event with drag show continues

During the most recent meeting of the school’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) on April 11, Principal Derek Larsen announced that there will be no Moms and Maple Bars event which was scheduled for May 11, nor Dads and Doughnuts on June 8, and asked that the events be removed from the PTO calendar and website.

According to minutes from the meeting obtained by The Post Millennial, Larsen explained that he was aiming to avoid "triggers" for students that have lost a parent or do not have parents.

He also cited "examples of varying family dynamics and the increasing complexity of the Riverview community and hopes of increasing inclusivity."

"Considering the childhood experiences and awareness the staff have of children’s experiences," the guiding coalition made a plan to create a joint event called Donuts with Grownups, split into three sessions, with approximately 140 families at each session.

Additionally, it will no longer be a PTO event, and the organization "will not be supporting it financially, since parents and teachers/staff did not collaborate to come to this conclusion, it was solely a school decision.”

According to the minutes, "there was a lengthy discussion and sharing by parents at the meeting about their views on the changes, they shared the positive impact the previous events had for their own families and others and concern raised about the message this is sending to our Riverview Community as well as the loss of special time with their children now that all grownups can come all at the same time."

The benefits of children having other grown-up representation given many full-time working parents’ inability to attend was also discussed.

As a result of the change of planning and decision by the school, as well as the “varied views” lead to an offer for the school to cover the costs for the new event and a potential additional PTO parent event to be coordinated with the PTO planned budget. There was also a commitment to see how the doughnut event goes this year and have a discussion at a future PTO meeting if the organization will have involvement with this event in future years.

In an email from the school last month, the Mother’s and Father’s Day events were not listed but under “District Approved Community Flyers” was the Snohomish Pride event featuring a drag show.

The flyer listed a disclaimer that read, “The Snohomish School District has approved this information for distribution through its schools. The district does not, however, assume sponsorship of/or responsibility for the actual content of any of the activities offered.”