Charter School Adopts Transgender Policy with No ‘Opt out’ Option for Parents

Veronica Neffinger | iBelieve Contributor | Updated: Aug 09, 2017

Charter School Adopts Transgender Policy with No ‘Opt out’ Option for Parents

A well-known Minnesota charter school has agreed to implement a new gender inclusivity policy that would not allow parents to opt out “based on religious or conscience objections.”

Nova Classical Academy in St. Paul agreed to adopt the policy after facing a lawsuit over the school’s treatment of a kindergarten student who identifies as transgender.

According to The Daily Signal, the new policy also involves not notifying parents or guardians about their child’s gender identity or the way the school handles transgender students.

Parents of a biologically male child who identifies as a female claimed that the school “failed to protect their child and other gender nonconforming and transgender students at Nova from persistent gender-based bullying and hostility” and “denied their child the ability to undergo a gender transition at Nova in a safe and timely way.”

Although the school initially denied the allegations, the school and the parents eventually reached an agreement, which has led to the new transgender policy.

Specific implications of the new policy will include gender neutral school uniforms, no “opt out” option for parents, which includes no obligation to notify parents of this new policy, and professional development for staff to educate them in how to implement this new policy.

 

Publication date: August 9, 2017



Charter School Adopts Transgender Policy with No ‘Opt out’ Option for Parents