The San Juan Island School Board unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday formally extending insurance benefits to district employees’ domestic partners.

District fiscal coordinator Dotty Walker said the district has been offering insurance benefits to domestic partners — regardless of gender — for about four years, but Wednesday’s resolution is the first formal establishment of the policy.

The resolution was requested by the district’s employee benefit brokers, The Baldwin Resource Group, Inc. “… in order to fully recognize the benefit option available to employees.”

According to the resolution, domestic partners are those who “… share a household, have maintained a close personal relationship in place of a lawful marriage for a minimum of six months, are both responsible for their basic living expenses (as defined in affidavit), are not married to anyone, are at least 18 years of age, are not related by blood so close it would bar marriage in Washington State, were mentally competent to agree to a contract when the domestic partnership began, are each other’s only domestic partner and responsible for each other’s welfare …”

Employees must provide documentation of shared household status; the school district will provide necessary documentation papers.