Colts Neck considers parent notifications for transgender students, bathroom restrictions
COLTS NECK – The Board of Education is considering a change to the district's policy on transgender students, which would require new parental notifications and restrict which bathrooms they could use.
Board President Heather Tormey confirmed via email that such a policy change is being reviewed and could be discussed at Wednesday night’s board meeting.
“The Colts Neck Board of Education’s Policy committee, in consultation with NJSBA, our policy consultants, district administration and district counsel continue to meet to discuss possible modifications on this issue,” she said via email. “The suggested modifications can be viewed on the posted Board agenda.”
After 3 p.m. Wednesday, hours before the meeting, the board posted a revised agenda that included a first reading of a change to the district's policy on transgender students. It had not appeared on the agenda prior to that point.
The proposed changes posted on the agenda outline two key changes:
The policy would make it an "affirmative duty" of the school to inform parents about a student's gender identity.
The policy would restrict students who identify as transgender to using only bathrooms of their biological sex, "so as to prevent the exposure of genitalia of the opposite sex."
Currently, according to district policy documents, the district does not have a requirement to notify parents if a student opts to change their gender identity.
The school district on Tuesday advised that the venue for the 7 p.m. meeting had been changed from the district board administration room to the larger cafeteria at Conover Road Primary School.
“Consistent with Board policy and State law, prior to adopting any policy changes, the Board will provide a public comment portion to the meeting giving members of the public the opportunity to voice their opinion and views on the proposed modifications,” Tormey said.
School officials would neither conform or deny such a proposal. The minutes to the Feb. 8 meeting have not yet been made available by the district.
“I was concerned for the safety of our LGBT students and the community,” said Mallory Reardon, a mother of three who attended the previous meeting. “Informing the parents might put some students in danger if they don’t have a home environment where they feel safe to tell the parents on their own.”
Marjorie Wold, a former president of the Colts Neck District PTO, sent a letter to the board opposing the changes.
“It is concerning that there is any kind of policy that would make anyone feel uncomfortable,” Wold said in an interview.
The current district transgender policy, adopted in 2015 and amended in 2019, offers various protections for students who seek to transition or be recognized differently than by their birth gender.
It states, in part, “A safe and supportive environment within a school begins with understanding and respect. The Board believes students, teachers, and administrators should be provided with common terminology associated with gender identity.”
The state Department of Education in 2018 established a policy that schools must accept a student's stated gender identity, but don't have to notify parents about the student's gender decision.
The Garden State became the 11th state in the nation at the time to issue guidance on transgender students in a move intended to promote a safe and successful learning environment for them.
"It's a big deal for transgender students in New Jersey," Aaron Potenza, director of programs for Garden State Equality, an advocacy organization for lesbian, gay and transgender people, said at the time. “This is probably the strongest guidance we've seen out of any state." The guidance clarified that determining gender identity rests with the student and not the parents.
Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of three books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Colts Neck Schools transgender student policy review sparks opposition
