This Idaho school district may OK policy on trans students’ pronouns in class

Nampa schools could soon ban teachers and district staff from discussing gender identity and expression.

A proposed policy on its way to implementation in the school district restricts staff from discussing gender identity, expression, sexual orientation and transgender identity at school. It also says teachers cannot be forced to call students by their preferred pronouns if they don’t align with the genders on their birth certificates. The school board is slated to discuss the policy Monday.

“(The policy) clearly covers the definitions in the district so that we understand what gender identity is, what sexual orientation is, etc.,” said Gregg Russell, Nampa School District superintendent. “And it clearly states in those definitions that those are something that we wouldn’t teach in school. Those are things that would be for discussions in the home with parents and their families.”

The policy falls in line with an Idaho law passed last legislative session. Lawmakers passed a bill that would allow students to sue their school if they encounter students using a bathroom that doesn’t align with their sex at birth, and would require schools to have separate bathrooms for transgender students.

Similar laws have passed in other states. Amy Dundon, legislative strategist of the ACLU of Idaho, said Idaho’s law and Nampa’s proposed policy reflects trends sweeping the country.

“What we see going on in Arkansas and Tennessee, in Florida, the kinds of discourse that we’re hearing, it’s targeting the LGBTQ community broadly, but specifically trans youth,” Dundon told the Idaho Statesman by phone. “It is part of a much larger, coordinated attack.”

Schools in Iowa and Florida have similar state laws and school district policies.

Policy stems from criticism of psychology class

In a school board meeting last month, Russell said the policy suggestion came from school administrators after they heard concerns from Nampa residents about a psychology class that discussed gender identity.

A copy of a test given to students in the psychology class circulated on social media this spring, spurring complaints about the gender identity curriculum. Attendees took issue with a question that asked how many genders there are, with the answer, “A currently indeterminate amount.” Idaho Education News reported the test and gender identity curriculum was part of high school curricula established by the American Psychological Association.

At a school board meeting last month, Nampa residents spoke in support of banning curricula that discussed gender identity, transgender identity and gender expression. One Nampa resident, Larry Mcclintock, called transgender identity a “dangerous topic.”

“Why would a school district support such harmful teaching?” he said.

Jaci Johnson told the school board in its April meeting that prohibiting teaching about gender identity would isolate students.

“Rejecting these topics serves only one purpose: to prevent open discussion and isolate our kids from different viewpoints,” Johnson said. “Withholding specific information from students with the purpose of isolating them from different ideas is the very definition of indoctrination.”

Staff can’t be forced to use students’ preferred pronouns

The policy would also not force teachers or students to use pronouns that do not correspond to an individual’s biological sex.

“It is not the intent of the district or its employees to be intentionally disparaging regarding the use of specific pronouns,” the policy said.

Dundon said the policies, both from school districts and the state, are unconstitutional and argued that they violate free speech by limiting teachers’ rights to freely express themselves, which is a violation of free speech. She also said the policies are discriminatory because they target specific members of a community.

She said the policy doesn’t limit speech about sexuality in general. It would not ban heterosexual teachers from speaking about their husbands or wives.

“Because this ‘don’t say gay’ policy is applying only to the queer community, it’s unlawfully discriminatory,” Dundon said.

Aside from the legal implications, Dundon said policies like Nampa’s create a “revisionist’s history of who we are as Americans” that is harmful to LGBTQ+ students.

“The implication here is that not only do these kids not belong in Idaho, but they’ve never been a part of the United States,” Dundon said. “We know that that’s not true.”

It is important that students in the LGBTQ+ community have the same basic human rights in school as every other student, Dundon said.

“There’s nothing wrong or shameful about being queer, being of LGBTQ community or being trans,” she said. “Just like every other kid, these kids deserve and have a fundamental right to feeling safe at school.”

The Nampa policy would require that the district work with students and their parents to create “reasonable accommodations” for any student unwilling or unable to use a school facility that corresponds with the person’s biological sex.

During district-sponsored overnight trips, students would sleep in accommodations that align with their biological sex. Other accommodations could be made if a student is unable or unwilling to do that.

After the board discusses the policy Monday, trustees can then make additional edits to the policy and bring it back at a later date, or vote to accept the policy, district spokesperson Kathleen Tuck said in an email.

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