Welcoming and Affirming Schools – for everyone.
For another view of Policy 443 from Cindy A. Rose, read here.
I am writing in my position as Vice President of the Frederick County Board of Education and as a citizen and parent of Frederick County.
Tonight, on June 14, the Board of Education will vote on Policy 443 – Creating Welcoming and Affirming Schools for Students who are Transgender or Gender Nonconforming. I support this policy and am proud that your elected Board of Education as well as every administrator, teacher and staff member are working to create schools that value and affirm every student.
For approximately seven years, Frederick County Public Schools has had in place practices intended to provide accommodations to students based on gender identity or expression. These current practices include students having access to restrooms that align with their gender identity and using preferred names and pronouns.
Starting with public comment at our February 22, 2017 meeting, and since then, the Board has heard very clearly that these practices varied from school to school. Despite the good intentions of teachers, staff, counselors, and administrators, some of those practices created stigma and did not foster the welcoming environment FCPS strives to create for all students. Gender identity and expression are protected classes in FCPS' nondiscrimination statement and in the State of Maryland -- that means that we recognize that a student's gender identity may or may not match the M/F sex category on a child's birth certificate.
The Board began its policymaking process on February 27 by issuing a statement to our community indicating our intent to create what is now draft Policy 443. This policy, if it is approved tonight, will create consistency and clarity across our school system, ensuring schools use students’ preferred names and pronouns and that schools do not restrict students from using facilities that align with their gender identity.
People & Dignity
Public schools are public spaces, but more importantly they are the places where we invest hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars and teachers and staff expend so much care and effort to put our kids first. They are the places parents send their kids each day to learn and grow. The diversity of our school system is one of its core strengths; as a parent, I cherish this gift our schools provide to my children as they meet and get to know their peers.
Through public comment at our meetings and hundreds of emails, our Board has heard from students who are transgender and gender nonconforming, their parents, allies and friends of these students, community members, over 50 people who work in the mental health field locally, FCPS alumni, and citizens. Overwhelmingly, these comments affirm the right of students who are transgender to exist without stigma or shame—to be affirmed for exactly who they are—in our public schools.
One of my biggest worries when our Board decided to undertake Policy 443 was that the conversation would devolve, that we’d find our community embroiled in a “bathroom bill” conversation similar to what happened in North Carolina and other states. Considering that possibility made me hurt preemptively for our children. For the most part, I have been proud of our Board’s deliberations for the past five months and of the civil and respectful public dialogue.
Our kids, every single one of them, deserve a public dialogue that values their dignity. Data show that children who identify as transgender are at more significant risk for depression, anxiety, and suicide. Too often, conversations involve labeling transgender or gender nonconforming children as dangerous or place a laser-focus on body parts and difference, when transition processes—coming out, emotional and physical changes, are private for every individual. These conversations are not productive; they are harmful.
Privacy
Over the course of five meetings of the Board’s Policy Committee meetings and multiple full-Board discussions, we have had a number of discussions about privacy. The draft Policy 443 improves current practice by ensuring that ANY student, regardless of gender identity, has access to a private restroom at any time. No one needs to ask for a key or get special permission. Our facilities vary in their age; in many cases, the only private restroom may be in the heath suite—it’s not ideal, but the option is there for everyone.
For students who wish to use the multi-unit M/F restrooms, they choose the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. The same goes for locker rooms. FCPS facilities staff surveyed all County locker rooms to ensure that every one of them had provisions for privacy, including areas that can be separated with a curtain and/or private stalls. Any student, regardless of gender identity, has access to these private areas for changing clothes. Likewise, any student who is uncomfortable sharing space with peers to change clothes may change before or after classmates. During the course of our conversation, the Board noted that we often ask our children to things that many adults are uncomfortable doing, changing clothes in open spaces with many others, for example. There is value in continuing this conversation about privacy for our children.
Parents
The Board and FCPS recognize that parents are the first and most important teachers for children. Under the draft policy, students who “come out” as transgender at school are referred to by their preferred name and pronoun—a basic component of personhood and dignity. There’s an official roster form that includes this information so that teachers and substitutes call children by the name they prefer and use the correct pronoun. During public comment, several students commented that they simply did not answer roll call on days when substitutes or teachers used their “birth” names – for them, answering to a name other than which their peers know them would be a stigma-inducing exercise, amounting to outing themselves all over again. All official school correspondence continues to use the name that appears on their official record – their birth name.
Sounds a bit prickly, perhaps? However, at the moment a student requests to use a preferred name and pronoun, counseling staff have in place established practices that begin with asking ‘have you talked with your parents?’ For many years, counselors have worked to support students and involve families. The law provides students the right to choose whether they inform their parents, but it is always the intent of FCPS to support parent and child communication. For students who absolutely wish to be “out” at school, but not out at home, parents are able to access the student’s official record to determine if students have chosen to use preferred name and pronoun at school.
Process
The Board agreed to develop Policy 443 to create consistency, expectations, and clarity. Over the course of the last five months, the policy making process as included (1) Policy Committee and full Board discussion, (2) public comment from parents, students, alumni, advocates, and other members of the community, (3) best practices research from other school districts, (4) discussions and feedback with legal counsel, and (5) advice from counseling staff and school administrators and staff. The process has been robust, transparent, and inclusive.
Providing the best education for all students is our goal—and that starts with an environment that is welcoming and affirming. I know today will be a proud day for our schools and for Frederick County.
