WAVE July 25, 2016

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Oregon school pays to settle Special report: Best practices ongoing support.

transgender bias suit for transgender policies

The Gresham-Barlow School District More than a year ago, it was reported
has agreed to pay $60,000 to settle the that the next big civil rights movement
discrimination claims of a transgender would focus on the rights of transgen-
teacher at Hall Elementary School. der individuals.

Leo Soell is a transgender teacher who Fast forward 13 months: The Obama How to handle name changes
does not identify as male or female. administration delivered a Friday the
13th bombshell – a joint “Dear Col- Q: How should we handle requests to
As part of the coming out process, Soell league” letter from the U.S. Depart- change the name in a transgender
completed a legal name change and ments of Education and Justice student’s record?
stipulated that “they” – rather than “he” regarding the rights of transgender stu-
or “she” – was the preferred pronoun. dents. A: While some transgender students
may legally change their names, many
Soell’s lawsuit claimed several co-work- Shortly afterward, 11 states; Texas, Al- can’t for financial reasons, the guidance
ers deliberately started using the terms abama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Ten- points out. So legal name changes
“she,” “lady” and “Miss Soell” as a nessee, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, shouldn’t be required. In the letter’s ac-
means of harassment and intimidation Louisiana, Utah and Georgia, sued — companying “Best Practices Manual,”
– and administrators looked the other saying the feds overstepped their the feds gave a thumbs-up to the:
way. bounds by issuing this guidance.
1. New York State Education Depart-
It also alleged that co-workers pre- Clearly this ongoing debate isn’t going ment. Its guidance says that school
vented Soell from using the only gen- to be settled overnight. records should be updated with the stu-
der-neutral school restroom. dent’s chosen name. (bit.ly/NYSED103,
In the meantime, we have schools to scroll to p. 9)
In addition to the payment for “emo- run and students who may be impacted
tional damages,” the district sent a copy by these decisions. Until the dust set-
of its anti-bullying policy and noted that tles, you’re probably going to want to
it refers to teachers as well as students. follow the guidance — or you’re going
to risk losing federal funding.

In this issue we will focus on transgen-
der policies approved by the feds, such
as procedures on:

name changes, overnight trips, and

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2. District of Columbia Public Schools. • New York State Education Depart- “Being transgender,
Its guidance notes that a court order or ment’s guidance, which suggests that like being gay, tall,
gender change is not required. If stu- transgender students have someone – short, white, black,
dents want to go by names that corre- such as a school counselor – who is male, or female, is
spond with their gender identity, the their point of contact. (bit.ly/NYSED103, another part of the
chosen name should be entered into scroll to p. 11) human condition that
the database field of “preferred name.” makes each individual
(Scroll to p. 8 at bit.ly/DCPS103.) • Chicago Public Schools’ guidance, unique, and something
which suggests assembling an admin- over which we have no
3. Massachusetts Department of Ele- istrative support team for transgender control. We are who we
mentary and Secondary Education. Its students. (bit.ly/CPS103, scroll to p. 2). are in the deepest re-
guidance addresses requests to amend cesses of our minds,
students’ records, including transcripts Don’t Say That hearts and identities.”
and diplomas, after graduation
(bit.ly/Mass103, scroll to p. 9). Avoid using the following bolded terms Linda Thompson
– as they’re considered offensive to the
What about overnight trips? transgender community, according to Gender Transition Plan
GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Q: Some athletic and field trips require Against Defamation. An alternative to The following pages and document are,
overnight stays. How should we handle the offensive word is in italics. courtesy of the Human Rights Cam-
accommodations? paign Foundation, supports the neces-
“Transgendered” and “a transgender” sary planning for a student’s formal
A: The feds endorsed guidance that are incorrect. Correctly used, the word transition of gender from its commonly
said traveling students should be “transgender” is an adjective used to assumed status to something else.
treated in a manner that’s consistent describe the person. It is not a noun. It’s
with their gender identity, like: not a verb. The purpose of this form is to create the
most favorable conditions for a suc-
• Colorado’s Boulder Valley School Dis- “Sex-change” as well as “pre- and post- cessful experience, and to identify the
trict’s guidance, which urges goals to operative” imply a person must have specific actions that will be taken by the
maximize the student’s social integra- surgery in order to transition, which is student, school, family and other sup-
tion, safety and comfort as well as to not the case. Stay away from dis- port providers.
minimize any stigmatization of the stu- cussing surgery and use the word “tran-
dent. (bit.ly/Boulder103, scroll to p. 5). sition.”

• Chicago Public Schools’ guidance, “Biologically-male/born a female” im-
which says transgender students can- plies that biology trumps gender iden-
not be denied the right to participate in tity. First of all, there’s rarely a need to
overnight trips. (bit.ly/CPS103, scroll to bring this up as it can be stigmatizing.
p. 5). But if you must, it’s better to use “as-
signed male or female at birth.”
Looking ahead: Ongoing help

Q:What’s the best way to ensure we’re
providing ongoing support for transgen-
der students?

A: The feds applauded guidance that
addressed the need for ongoing sup-
port and gave examples on ways to pro-
vide it, such as:

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5

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District pays to settle claim it was motivated by her race and gender.” 8
‘passed on’ bad teacher
Girl drama turned violent The court outlined that Kishana
An Illinois district forked over yet an- could’ve stated a valid claim if she’d
other settlement in a case involving “Funny, I thought the expulsion was a provided evidence that showed:
teacher sex abuse. consequence for fighting in the hallway,
resisting arrest and kicking the SRO,” 1. male or non-minority students who
The McLean County Unit 5 School Dis- Rich quipped. engaged in behavior similar to Kis-
trict has agreed to an undisclosed pay- hana’s conduct were not disciplined or
ment to settle claims that it “passed on” “Good summary,” Heather said. “But received less severe discipline, or
teacher John White, knowing he was can you refresh my memory on the de-
unfit for the classroom, to another dis- tails?” 2. school officials made comments in
trict without regard for students’ safety. connection with the discipline imposed
“Kishana and Lily don’t get along,” Rich that “might indicate a gender-based or
said. “When they got into the fight, Kis- race animus.”
hana pulled off Lily’s wig, which she
wears to cover a pretty severe burn in- But she failed to make either showing,
jury. so the court dismissed the claims with
prejudice, effectively closing the door
on her claim.

White pleaded guilty to 10 counts of ag- “Anthony was the SRO on duty in the Expert’s solid plan: No kid gloves re-
gravated criminal sexual abuse charges hallway,” Rich continued. “We sepa- quired
involving 11 first- and second-graders at rated the girls, but Kishana wouldn’t let
two schools in the receiving district. go of the wig. Too many incriminating videos have –
understandably – stirred up racial ten-
He is currently serving a 60-year sen- “Then she kicked Anthony in the stom- sions. And that has made some school
tence. This settlement is in addition to ach,” he added. “After that, Anthony ar- officials feel as if they’re walking on
claims of more than $3.6 million that rested her.” eggshells. But this ruling shows courts
have already been paid. recognize – and shut down – some
“And that’s when she was expelled,” plainly bogus claims.
Expelled student claims race, Heather summed up.
gender discrimination If you missed it, check out “You disci-
Kishana sued, claiming the real reason pline, they record; Avoiding the ‘gotcha’
Principal Heather Marks knocked on the school expelled her was because of moment” for a plan to effectively handle
assistant principal Rich Wells’ office her race and gender. any disciplinary situation.
door. “Have you had the chance to read
that email about Kishana Williams?” The school asked the court to toss her Cite: M.B. v. Federal Way School Dist.
she asked. claims. No. 210. Dramatized for effect.

“Kishana – as in the girl who was ex- Did it? “Education is important because,
pelled after that fight?” Rich asked. “I first of all, people need to know that
haven’t gotten to it yet. Why, what’s Yes, the court tossed Kishana’s discrim-
up?” ination claims and ordered the clerk to discrimination still exists. It is still
close the case. real in the workplace, and we
“She’s filed a discrimination lawsuit,”
Heather said. “Basically the suit claims The court noted Kishana’s testimony should not take that for granted.”
the expulsion was overly harsh, and it that she felt “picked on” because of her
gender and race. Alexis Herman

But that’s not nearly enough to state a
prima facie discrimination claim.

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Boy suspended after class could’ve called me right away to handle Did the court agree?
fight: Dad blames school
it. I could have dealt with this without all

the red tape.” No, the court dismissed the claim.

After a student was sent to ISS for fight- “I understand that you’re upset about To show a due process violation oc-
ing in class, his angry father filed a law- Travis getting in trouble,” Rich said. “But curred, his dad had to show Travis did
suit, claiming his son’s due process when kids start fighting, we have to in- not receive:
rights were violated. vestigate the situation and follow up ac-
cording to our policies and procedures.” 1. notice about his in-school suspension
Assistant principal Rich Wells was shuf- an opportunity to tell his side of the
fling through his emails in an attempt to “Like I said: Red tape,” Travis’ father story, and
clean out his inbox when an angry par- said with a hard look. “Well you can be-
ent knocked on his office door loudly. 2. an opportunity to appeal the suspen-
sion.

That wasn’t the case here, the court ex-
plained, as Travis and his father:

1. were notified about the suspension

2. attended a school disciplinary hear-
ing with their attorney, and

3. could’ve filed an appeal, but filed a
lawsuit instead.

So the claim failed.

Analysis: Handling angry parents

We live in a litigious society – and an
angry parent might jump at the chance
to sue.

“Can I help you?” Rich asked. “You’re lieve I’m going to fight this. You’ll hear The school won this one, but it might’ve
welcome to have a seat.” from my lawyer!” avoided the whole mess by communi-
cating with the parent early and often.
“I’m Travis’ dad,” the man said. “And I Then he walked out.
want to know why my boy has been Cite: Cowart v. Brockton Public Schools
sent to ISS for 10 days.” Rich saw Travis and his dad at the dis-
ciplinary hearing with their attorney. Note: This case has been dramatized
“Mr. Sutton,” Rich said. “Travis jumped for effect.
another student in class. We can’t allow At the hearing, several witnesses pre-
students to fight without facing the con- sented statements.
sequences.” Travis’ in-school suspension was up-
held. That’s when he and his father filed
Dad doesn’t like ‘red tape’ a lawsuit, claiming the school violated
Travis’ right to due process.
“Come on,” Travis’ dad said. “You

Transgender rights: 5 ways to 1. Bathrooms and locker rooms 10
stay ahead of evolving laws
Transgender students should be permit- info (such as their transgender status)
You’ve probably heard about the ted to use restrooms and locker rooms when other students aren’t required to
Obama administration’s Friday the 13th that correspond with their gender iden- share personal information. In practical
bombshell – delivered in the form of a tity. Schools cannot require transgender terms, you can’t provide an “opt-out”
joint “Dear Colleague” letter from the students to use individual facilities – but form when students will be sharing a
U.S. Departments of Education and it may provide such facilities to any stu- room with a transgender peer – see
Justice regarding the rights of transgen- dent who has privacy or safety con- below for more on that.
der students. cerns about sharing a facility with a
transgender student and voluntarily 5. Education records
The mainstream media boiled it down seeks single-stall facilities. Low-cost so-
to a simple message: Schools have to lutions include hanging a curtain or a If a transgender student wants to
let transgender students use restrooms separate changing schedule for individ- amend education records to make them
that correspond with their gender iden- uals with concerns. consistent with their gender identity, the
tity. school must consider the request under
2. Dress codes FERPA. If denied, the school must no-
Bathrooms – and oh so much more tify the student of its decision as well as
Schools cannot discipline students or the right to a hearing. Schools cannot
But in reality, the feds’ letter addresses exclude them from participating in activ- rely on FERPA to disclose a student’s
a bevy of issues regarding the rights of ities for appearing or behaving in a transgender status to others.
transgender students. manner that is consistent with their gen-
der identity or failing to conform to More help for schools
The courts haven’t settled the debate of stereotypical notions of masculinity
whether discrimination laws apply in or femininity (e.g. yearbook photos, In addition to the feds’ guidance, the
matters of gender identity. Click here to school dances and graduation). Human Rights Campaign Foundation
read the status of the latest ruling. recently released a new report:
3. Athletics “Schools in Transition: A Guide for Sup-
And while the feds’ letter doesn’t carry porting Transgender Students in K-12
the force of law, the message is crystal Schools may not adopt or adhere to re- Schools.”
clear: Toe the line or face the loss of quirements that rely on overly broad
federal funding. generalizations about the differences http://hrc-assets.s3-website-us-east-
between transgender students and 1.amazonaws.com//files/assets/re-
Here are five things, according to the other students of the same sex – or sources/Schools-In-Transition.pdf
letter, that you need to shore up with other students’ discomfort with trans-
solid policies: gender peers. But Title IX does not pro-
hibit age-appropriate, tailored
1. bathrooms and locker room requirements based on researched-
2. dress codes based medical knowledge about the im-
3. athletics pact of participation on the competitive
4. overnight accommodations, and fairness or safety of the sport.
5. education records.
4. Overnight accommodations
To help you implement new procedures
for compliance, the feds released a best If a field trip requires overnight accom-
practices manual to supplement its lat- modations, transgender students must
est guidance. have access to housing consistent with
their gender identity and cannot be re-
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list quired to stay in a single-occupancy
/oese/oshs/emergingpractices.pdf unit. Further, a transgender student
cannot be required to disclose personal