State College Area Responds to Guidance on Transgender Students

The Obama administration on Friday issued guidance to public schools on how rights of transgendered students should be protected under federal law.

‘In recent years, we have received an increasing number of questions from parents, teachers, principals, and school superintendents about civil rights protections for transgender students,’ a joint letter from the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and Department of Education Office of Civil Rights stated.

The letter explains the administration’s interpretation of how Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational operations that receive federal funding, applies to transgendered students. The most controversial aspect in some quarters is that transgender students must be allowed to use facilities consistent with their gender identity — which the letter defines as ‘an internal sense of gender,’ and may be different from the individual’s sex assigned at birth.

According to the letter, schools must allow transgender students to use locker room and restroom facilities consistent with their gender identity. ‘A school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so,’ the letter states. Schools may make individual user facilities available to to all students who seek privacy.

While the letter does not change the law, the implication is clear that failure to adhere to the guidelines could risk federal funding. The departments call the letter ‘significant guidance’ to inform schools how departments evaluate whether they are complying with their legal obligations.

For State College Area School District, spokesman Chris Rosenblum said the district already works with transgender students to ensure their needs are met as required by Title IX.

‘We will reflect upon President Obama’s directive, as we would with any directive, legislation or statute, to get a better understanding of the possible effects, if any, on our school community,’ Rosenblum said.

He added that administration will consult with the district’s solicitor and give any recommendations to the school board.

‘Furthermore, we will reflect with our school board, suggesting any policy changes that need to be implemented he said. ‘Any resulting policy changes will require discussion with and action by the Board at public meetings.’

The guidance also says schools are responsible for safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students and that staff must use pronouns and names consistent with the student’s gender identity. Schools providing housing or overnight accommodations must allow transgender students access consistent with their gender identity and may not require them to stay in single occupancy accommodations when not required of other students. Title IX does not prohibit students from voluntarily requesting single-occupancy accommodations.

For athletics, ‘A school may not… adopt or adhere to requirements that rely on overly broad generalizations or stereotypes about the differences between transgender students and other students of the same sex (i.e., the same gender identity) or others’ discomfort with transgender students,’ the letter states.

Schools also cannot disclose a student’s transgender status without consent.

The guidance has been met with opposition. Texas Gov. Greg Abbot said he would fight the directives. In North Carolina, where legislation prohibiting transgendered individuals from using opposite-sex bathrooms set off a national debate, Gov. Pat McCrory said the administration was overstepping its constitutional authority.

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said the guidance from the departments is not the law

‘This is the kind of issue that parents, school boards, communities, students and teachers should be allowed to work out in a practical way with a maximum amount of respect for the individual rights of all students,’ Alexander said on Friday. ‘Insofar as the federal government goes, it’s up to Congress to write the law, not the executive departments. And guidance issued by the departments does not amount to federal law and should not be treated as such.’

The National PTA and National Education Association both supported the guidance.

“This guidance gives administrators, teachers and parents the tools they need to protect transgender students from peer harassment and to identify and address unjust school policies,’ Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. ‘I look forward to continuing our work with the Department of Education – and with schools across the country – to create classroom environments that are safe, nurturing, and inclusive for all of our young people.”