These Pennsylvania school districts have enacted transgender student protection policies

Chris Ullery and Bethany Rodgers, Bucks County Courier Times
Updated ·14 min read
2
Student members of Holicong's Gay Straight Alliance club stand outside their Central Bucks school in Buckingham on Tuesday as part of a protest against a recent policy teachers say would make LGBTQ support "invisible" by removing pride flags.

In order to report about Pennsylvania school districts that have adopted protections for transgender students, the USA TODAY Network developed an automated program known as a web scraper.

A scraper is essentially just a tool that opens websites to copy information to save into a dataset.

Before scraping the websites, USA TODAY Network reporters first gathered a list of the 500 school districts available on a number of Pennsylvania Department of Education reports.

A common document-hosting web portal called BoardDocs was found in multiple districts, and reporters manually compiled a list of each district that had a BoardDocs webpage available online.

There were about 440 districts that appeared to be using BoardDocs, roughly 88% of all districts in the state.

While BoardDocs is commonly used to host public meeting agendas and minutes, virtually all school districts with a BoardDocs page use the site to post their policy books.

The scraper, developed with the Python programming language, then searched through nearly 120,000 policies to find the word “transgender,” then copied and pasted links and policy text into a spreadsheet.

Out of 440 school districts, only 36 districts (8%) had policies that included the word "transgender" somewhere in the text.

That’s a grand total of about 60 policies, or 0.0005% of all policies searched. The USA Today Network further analyzed these policies to develop a list of districts that have adopted specific protections for transgender students.

Here are those districts along with a summary of the policy adopted in each:

More: Only a handful of Pa. school districts have policies protecting trans students

Survey: Pa. residents, is your school district supportive of LGBTQ+ students?

Bucks County

  • Pennsbury School District: This district’s policy on transgender and gender expansive students states that young people have a right to keep their gender identities private. It also says schools should allow students to use the restrooms — and, in most cases, the locker rooms — that align with their consistently asserted gender identity. However, education officials will handle locker room access on a case-by-case basis, according to the policy.

  • New Hope-Solebury School District: This district’s policy on gender expansive and transgender students warns that disclosing a child’s transgender identity — including to parents — could be a violation of federal law. It requires teachers and other school staff to keep confidential a child’s transgender identity if legally mandated. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should never force young people to use a locker room or restroom that conflicts with their gender identity.

  • Bristol Borough School District: This district’s policy on transgender and gender expansive students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms — and, in most cases, the locker rooms — that align with their consistently asserted gender identity. However, education officials will handle locker room access on a case-by-case basis, according to the policy.

Allegheny County

  • Wilkinsburg School District: This district’s nondiscrimination policy on transgender and gender expansive students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity without permission or unless legally required to do so, including when communicating with parents. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

  • Pittsburgh School District: This district’s nondiscrimination policy on transgender and gender expansive students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity without permission or unless legally required to do so, including when communicating with parents. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

Bradford County

  • Northeast Bradford School District: This district’s nondiscrimination policy on transgender and gender expansive students states that school staff should keep a young person’s transgender status confidential as required by state and federal law. It also says students should be addressed by the name and pronouns that match their identities and that schools should allow them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

Centre County

  • State College Area School District: This district’s administrative regulation on gender expansive and transgender students generally bars teachers and other school staff from discussing information about a young person’s gender identity with anyone other than the student or the student’s guardians. There are a few limited exceptions. The regulation lays out a process for responding to student requests that school staff use a different name or pronoun. It also states that schools should allow transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their consistently asserted gender identity.

Chester County

  • Great Valley School District: This district’s policy on transgender and gender nonconforming students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity — including to parents — without permission or unless legally required to do so. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identities and states that schools should allow young people to use the restroom that aligns with their consistently asserted gender identity. Education officials will handle locker room access on a case-by-case basis, according to the policy.

  • Coatesville Area School District: This district’s administrative regulation on names and pronouns states that school staff should address young people by the pronouns consistent with their gender identity and by a “nickname” if that’s what the student prefers. It says that school staff members do not need to conceal from parents a name or pronoun that a student is publicly using at school.

Dauphin County

  • Derry Township School District: This district’s administrative regulation on transgender and gender nonconforming students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. It also says students should be addressed by the name and pronouns that match their identities and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

Delaware County

  • Haverford Township School District: This district’s administrative regulation on gender expansive and transgender students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. It also says students should be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identities and states that schools should allow young people to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

  • Southeast Delco School District: This district’s nondiscrimination policy for transgender and gender expansive students directs teachers and other school staff to keep information about a young person’s gender identity confidential “to the extent required by applicable state and federal privacy laws.” It also says students should be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identities and states that schools should allow young people to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

  • Wallingford-Swarthmore School District: This district’s administrative regulation on gender expansive and transgender students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. It also says students should be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identities and states that schools should allow young people to use the restroom and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

  • Rose Tree Media School District: This district’s policy on transgender and gender nonconforming youth bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identities and states that schools should allow young people to use the restrooms — and, in most cases, locker rooms — that align with their consistently asserted gender identity. However, education officials will handle locker room access on a case-by-case basis, according to the policy.

  • Ridley School District: This district’s policy on gender expansive and transgender students authorizes the superintendent to develop regulations aimed at supporting the “safety, comfort, and healthy development” of these young people.

  • Marple Newtown School District: This district’s nondiscrimination policy on transgender and gender expansive students directs teachers and other school staff to keep information about a young person’s gender identity confidential “to the extent required by applicable state and federal privacy laws.” It also says students shall be addressed by the name and pronouns that match their identities and states that schools should allow young people to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

Lackawanna County

  • Scranton School District: This district’s policy on gender identity and expression warns that disclosing a child’s transgender identity — including to parents — could be a violation of federal law. It requires school counselors to collaborate with students on a confidentiality plan to determine how much of this information should be disclosed and with whom. It directs school staff to address students by a name and pronouns that match their consistently asserted identity. Education officials will handle access to restrooms or locker rooms on a case-by-case basis, although transgender students will generally be allowed to use facilities corresponding to their gender identities. In other situations, they will have access to private, gender-neutral facilities, according to the policy.

Luzerne County

  • Crestwood School District: This district’s policy on transgender students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity except as permitted by law. It also says students should be addressed by the name and pronouns that match their consistently asserted identities. Education officials will handle access to restrooms or locker rooms on a case-by-case basis, although transgender students will generally be allowed to use facilities corresponding to their gender identities. In other situations, they will have access to private, gender-neutral facilities, according to the policy.

  • Dallas School District: This district’s policy on transgender and gender nonconforming youth bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms — and, in most cases, locker rooms — that align with their consistently asserted gender identity. However, education officials will handle locker room access on a case-by-case basis, according to the policy.

  • Hanover Area School District: This district’s policy on transgender students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity without permission or unless legally required to do so, including when communicating with parents. Education officials will handle locker room and restroom access on a case-by-case basis, according to the policy.

Montgomery County

  • Springfield Township School District: This district’s policy on transgender and gender nonconforming students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms — and, in most cases, locker rooms — that align with their consistently-asserted gender identity. However, education officials will handle locker room access on a case-by-case basis, according to the policy.

  • Cheltenham School District: This district’s policy on gender expansive and transgender students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their consistently-asserted gender identity.

  • Norristown Area School District: This district’s policy on transgender and gender expansive students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity without permission or unless legally required to do so, including when communicating with parents. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

  • Jenkintown School District: This district’s policy on gender expansive and transgender students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity without permission or unless legally required to do so, including when communicating with parents. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their consistently-asserted gender identity.

  • Upper Moreland School District: This district’s policy on transgender and gender diverse students authorizes the superintendent to develop regulations on privacy issues, pronouns, access to restrooms and locker rooms and access to school activities and programs. The administrative regulations bar teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. The regulations also affirm students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identities and state that schools should allow young people to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identities.

  • Upper Dublin School District: This district’s policy on gender expansive and transgender students states that young people have a right to keep their gender identities private and warns that school staff who disclose this information could be violating federal law. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identities and states that schools should allow young people to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their consistently-asserted gender identities.

  • Wissahickon School District: This district’s administrative regulation on transgender and gender expansive students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity, including to parents, except in certain limited situations. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identities and states that schools should allow young people to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identities.

Susquehanna County

  • Susquehanna Community School District: This district’s policy on gender expansive and transgender students states that schools should allow these young people to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their consistently asserted gender identity.

Washington County

  • Charleroi School District: This district’s policy on gender expansive and transgender students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity without permission or unless legally required to do so, including when communicating with parents. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their consistently asserted gender identity.

Westmoreland County

  • Southmoreland School District: This district’s nondiscrimination policy on transgender and gender expansive students bars teachers and other school staff from disclosing information about a young person’s gender identity without permission or unless legally required to do so, including when communicating with parents. It also affirms students’ right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that match their identity and states that schools should allow them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Which PA school districts have policies protecting trans students?