Frederick County’s Board of Education faced a split vote on a controversial new policy meant to protect gender non-conforming students.
4 of the seven-member-council voted in favor of a motion to change language regarding enforcement of preferred pronouns from a recommendation to an expectation. Religious objections could be met with accommodations.
Additionally, the motion included policy clarification informing parents they could access official school records of their children’s gender identity.
Policy 443
Policy 443 was introduced in 2017 and seeks to protect students who are “...transgender, intersex, gender-questioning, [and] gender non-conforming…” from discrimination.
The policy outlines that students have a right to access facilities, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, as well as participate in activities, like sports, according to their gender identity.
Student member of the Board Alexander Thomas clarified at Wednesday’s meeting that students must get express permission from their school first, before using facilities that don't correspond with their biological sex. “If even I identified as a female five minutes from now, I couldn’t just walk into the female bathroom at Linganore High School,” Thomas explained.
Students also have a protected right to their own privacy under policy 443. Teachers and faculty are in many situations barred from sharing information about a child's gender identity with a parent or legal guardian unless the child expressly consents.
Board Vice President Dean Rose said the school isn’t encouraging students to keep secrets from their parents. He clarified the school makes continuous efforts to encourage communication. “It’s in the policy, we would prefer that you involve your parents,” Rose said. “We are explaining to you through our licensed councilors who treat all students.”
Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) will also keep a list of the preferred pronouns of every student. Prior to the meeting, the policy encouraged teachers to use the preferred pronouns of a student, and outlined they would not be punished if they objected.
The policy suggested referring to students by their last name if issues arose, and included religious exemptions.
Overnight field trips were also addressed, in which faculty were prohibited from informing fellow team mates and their parents of the gender identity of a student. In the case of other schools requiring such information to be revealed, faculty would be required to maintain the privacy of the student in question as best they could.
Student Privacy and Parental Rights
Board Member Jaime Brennan proposed an amendment to inform parents they are able to look up official school records on their children's gender identity.
Under policy 443, students have a protected right to their privacy, and official changes to a student’s gender identity within school systems won’t be reported to their parents without student consent.
Brennan was concerned this could qualify as intentionally keeping secrets about children from their parents. Dean Rose explained children 12 and older are already able to seek mental health assistance without their parents.
Despite this, Brennan worried that FCPS was intentionally facilitating the undermining of parents rights and asked where this information was stored. Information on a student's gender identity is entered into the school's information portal, which Rose explained was already accessible to all parents.
Robert Cornet, of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick, told the board he worries allowing parents to access school records of their children’s gender identity would endanger student privacy. “If the real rule here is ‘Oh yes, we’ll promise you safety, we’ll promise that your information will be kept confidential, we’ll encourage you to tell your parents, but if you don't want to, it’s ok,’ but if the real rule is, ‘Your parent can now go down the hall and look at it,’ then we’re lying to students,” Cornet argued.
Cornet said parents may abuse their children if they learn about their child's gender identity without their consent.
Use of Pronouns
Dean Rose proposed an amendment to change policy language from encouraging faculty to use a student's preferred pronouns, to expecting it. He explained that faculty with serious religious objections would still be allowed to seek accommodations.
Jaime Brennan contested the proposal, saying it was compelled speech and outlined the lack of any religious accommodation provided to students. “We could see instances where we are disciplining students for exercising their own first amendment rights,” Brennan argued.
Rose explained current laws do not define FCPS’s policy as compelled speech, as it only encourages students to use the preferred pronouns of their classmates.
Brennan rebutted by pointing out the encouragement is done at threat of punishment. “There could be a wide variety of things that a punishment on their permanent record could impact, it is compelled speech,” Brennan said.
A religious objection could not be used as an excuse to bully students, Rose responded. Even with an exemption, he held there were limits. “It wouldn’t matter if they got a religious exemption anyways,” Rose clarified. “It doesn’t give them permission to bully, harass and intimidate, and that’s what the policy says specifically.”
Looking Ahead
Policy 443 will go under review once again while the board has time to investigate the current proposed changes. At least one additional meeting will be held before a final decision is made.
