Ohio school board to vote in October on LGBTQ protections for students

Ohio's State Board of Education won't vote until at least October on a resolution opposing changes to Title IX that would add federal protections for LGBTQ students.

The four-page resolution, introduced by Board Member Brendan Shea, says the Biden Administration's plan to expand Title IX's discrimination definition to include gender identity and sexual orientation could destroy "foundational truths upon which education rests."

"Timing, I believe, is of the essence," Shea said. "(If) this were to drag out until December, I think it would significantly detract from what it's trying to do."

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The 19-member board opted to send the resolution through the normal committee process instead of considering it as an emergency resolution. That means it could come up for a vote at the meeting scheduled for Oct. 12.

What's in the resolution?

If passed, Shea's resolution would direct the state superintendent to send letters to all of Ohio's public school districts reminding them that these proposed changes to Title IX are not finalized and therefore do not need to be adopted.

It would also ask (but cannot legally require) Ohio's state lawmakers to pass legislation that bans transgender girls from competing on female sports teams, give state dollars to schools that lost federal funding for opposing these Title IX changes and require schools to notify parents if their children express that they might be LGBTQ.

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"It’s awfully burdensome and heavy-handed to force every school in the nation to adopt extreme gender identity policies," Shea said Tuesday.

Ohio school board members, transgender students speak out against resolution

But most of the 61 people who showed up to testify disagreed with him.

Local school board members from Canton, Toledo and Gahanna-Jefferson called the resolution harmful.

"It is fueling an already raging fire of a culture war where students are already getting burned," Gahanna-Jefferson School Board President Beryl Piccolantonio said.

And several transgender Ohioans said the resolution would give students, teachers and even administrators cover to mistreat LGBTQ students.

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"I was harassed in school," Emily Flauto, of New Albany, said. "The staff handled it poorly, and I never felt safe again."

State's largest school district condemns resolution

The state's largest school district is also condemning the resolution. At a Columbus City Schools Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, members criticized Shea’s resolution and wore shirts saying “safe space” in support of the district's LGBTQ students.

Columbus Board President Jennifer Adair said at the start of the meeting that the district will continue to be a safe place for all its students.

“The Columbus School Board and district has always been advocates for our students no matter who you are, who you love, where you come from, everything about you we really value and appreciate,” Adair said.

Board member Eric Brown said during a discussion later in the meeting that the resolution “advocates lawlessness,” adding that it not only spreads falsehoods about medical care, but about transgender people when it comes to bathrooms and the topic of transgender people in sports.

“This is just horrendous. It’s nasty. I can’t think of enough foul words that would apply, and I think we ought to stand up for our LGBTQ community and for the rest of our school community, because this affects everyone, and oppose what’s taking place,” Brown said.

The Board voted not only to release an official statement on Wednesday condemning the legislation, but also to craft a formal resolution for the next Columbus Board meeting to condemn the State’s resolution; to prepare a written testimony and have a Board delegate at the next State Board meeting to present testimony; and use its Ohio School Boards Association membership to craft “an amendment to the legislative platform to ensure that this type of legislation that is something that’s advocated for on behalf of public policy.”

“This legislation is absolutely disgusting; it promotes just blatant discrimination and it’s just full of hate. And there’s really nothing else to say about it,” Adair said. “Here in this district, that’s absolutely unacceptable."

The next State Board of Education meeting is set for Oct. 11 and 12. People wanting to testify must fill out a form and return it to the board ahead of time.

Anna Staver is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

Michael Lee is a K-12 education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: No vote on resolution to oppose adding LBGTQ protections to Title IX