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Parents air concerns about restroom policy for transgender students

11/20/2015

By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer
Several parents went before the Montgomery County Board of Education Tuesday night to questions what policies it has in place dealing with transgender students and use of restrooms.

This comes amid reports that a male student at the high school has been using the girls’ restroom because they identify with that sex rather than their own.

Nearly 100 people were in attendance for the discussion at the MCHS cafeteria.

One parent, Heather Johnson, asked why no parents were notified of the development that she says affects every child who attends school in the district.

Johnson said the decision to allow students to use the restrooms of the opposite sex gives transgender students all the rights.

“You’re spending the majority of your time on education, but you are still raising children,” she told the board. “Your focus is a lot on character and integrity, but yet it is asking students to compromise their integrity and what they believe to be right and wrong if someone decided they don’t want to be one gender at any certain time.”

Superintendent Matt Thompson said he couldn’t discuss specific students, but added that there is currently no policy in place dealing with transgender students. He did say there are existing policies dealing with bullying and harassment.

His office issued a statement Tuesday morning outlining the district’s position.

“What I am able to share is that it is our duty, responsibility and obligation to protect all students and to ensure that each is safe and feels safe in our schools,” the statement said. “We have and will continue to work with individual students and families to provide accommodations and supports for any student who has specific needs to include learning needs, emotional needs and physical needs.
“We have and will continue to review all appropriate policies and laws,” it added.

Parent Aaron Marcum said it appeared to him that there is a policy in place and that it allows for transgender students to use whatever restroom they choose.

Like Johnson, he questioned why parents were not notified and the issue discussed openly before any policy was set.

Thompson said the public will have the chance to comment if any policy is adopted and it would require two readings before it goes into place.
The issue has been garnering nationwide attention of late as schools grapple with the legalities.

The Obama administration has said that schools that prevent transgender students from using the restroom affiliated with their gender identity are violating federal law.

That came on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.

Ken Webb, another parent, told the board that “just because the Supreme Court says it, it doesn’t make it right.”

Parent Bobby Stinnett said he has researched the issue and challenged the arguments outlined in “Transgender 101” issued by the Kentucky Dept. of Education, that states that it is illegal not to allow transgender students to use the restrooms or locker rooms of the sex in which they identify.

Stinnett claims that almost every case that he’s seen involving students show that those policies do not pass muster in the courts.
He called it a classic overreach of the Obama administration that has no judicial backing.

One parent, Levi Dunn, urged the community not to succumb to hate and asked parents to educate themselves regarding transgender individuals.

He said the community could look to the LBGT (Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender) community for information in those areas.

At one point members of the audience began interjecting their views, but board attorney Shelly Williams emphasized that Tuesday’s session was a business meeting and not a public forum.

After a call for order from board chair Alice Anderson the meeting moved on without interruption.

Thompson said he appreciated and valued the input from the public, which can be a very passionate issue, and said it will be taken into consideration.

At the same time, Thompson said he has to respect students’ rights to privacy.

Later in the meeting, two young people walked amidst the crowd with messages in support of transgender persons. One of them wore a cape and a shirt that read “Transgender Lives Matter.”

One other parent, Trina Walker Derrickson, addressed the board about safety issues related to recent threats.

Thompson said the safety of staff and students remains a top priority and encouraged the community to work together to prevent similar incidents. He said it should start with parents discussing the consequences of threats with their children.

School threats have been reported recently in school districts throughout the state.