Johnson County school board bans trans students from preferred bathrooms, sports teams

After months of tense debate, the Gardner Edgerton school board on Monday approved a policy prohibiting transgender children from using their preferred restrooms or participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

The school board voted 5-2 to approve the policy, which has sparked ongoing controversy and student protests. It states that students must use the facilities, and participate on the athletic teams, that conform with their sex at birth. School board members Katie Williams, the lone liberal on the board, and Greg Chapman voted against it.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas argued that the policy violates federal law, plus isolates and harms transgender students.

“The policy would not only negatively impact trans students’ mental health, it could also threaten the district’s federal funding and open the school board up to potential costly litigation,” D.C. Hiegert, with the ACLU of Kansas, told the school board Monday. “The law is on the side of trans students’ rights.”

Board members in favor of the policy have said that they have heard from parents concerned about bathroom and pronoun rules, as well as student safety, and that staff need clearer guidance. Several parents have supported the policy, and some have threatened to leave the district if transgender students are allowed to use the restrooms of their choice.

But many others are pleading for protections for LGBTQ students, arguing that the proposed policy would hurt transgender students and their mental health — when the group already is at a higher risk of suicide.

“You have been elected for parents to be able to choose what happens in their kids’ education. But parents have a choice,” Gardner Edgerton High School student Elizabeth Fiedler told the majority-conservative school board. “One where they show their kid love and acceptance no matter their identity. Or one where they treat children like predators.

“These are kids trying to be themselves, not predators. ... I am here telling you there are people being creepy in our bathrooms. It is not the trans students.”

The heated discussion began in July, when board member Jeff Miller proposed requiring teachers to use students’ birth pronouns. The board instead asked district staff and legal counsel to review options for a new policy.

The district came back with a proposal that has been continually scaled back over the past few months.

The final version of the policy states that staff should keep a student’s transgender or gender-nonconforming status confidential, unless a student allows them to disclose it to their parent or guardian. Staff would notify parents, though, if a transgender student requests support measures, such as separate changing rooms.

An earlier version of the policy would have asked staff to notify parents if their student asks to go by a preferred name or pronouns. That sparked concerns about how the practice could “out” LGBTQ students to their families against their consent.

But Williams argued that other parts of the policy continue to put children at risk of being outed to their families without their consent. The policy states that when a staff member uses a student’s preferred name, “they will then use that name in all circumstances, including in discussions with parents, other staff members, and students.”

The policy specifies that students will only be allowed to participate on sports teams that correspond with their sex at birth. It also says while the district does not typically segregate academic courses by sex, in some classes, such as physical education or health, students may be divided by gender. With parental consent, transgender students would be allowed to participate in the class or academic activity that conforms with their gender identity.

Williams claimed that the school board is ignoring guidance from legal counsel by approving the policy, which she argued puts the district at risk of being sued for discrimination.

Chapman said he voted against the proposal because earlier in the meeting, the board rejected a plan to fund an expansion of unisex restrooms at the high school, which transgender students will need to use under the policy.

Students who do not wish to use restrooms that align with their sex at birth will be required to use unisex facilities. District staff asked to spend up to $80,000 to construct a half-dozen additional unisex restrooms at Gardner Edgerton High School. The bathrooms would also be made more accessible for students with disabilities.

Superintendent Brian Huff said that there are a couple of restrooms that could be easily converted into unisex bathrooms by only changing signs. But others require construction. The school board rejected the proposal with a 2-5 vote, with only Chapman and Williams in favor.

The majority of board members argued that they needed more answers as to whether the bathrooms will have enough accommodations for special education students before approving the funding.

While Huff said the board can move forward with lower-cost changes to open up a couple more unisex restrooms, the rest of the construction will require future board approval.

Chapman argued that he could not vote in favor of a policy affecting restroom usage without ensuring enough bathrooms are available for students who need them.

“You’re asking me to approve a policy, when you could potentially never approve the $80,000 or whatever the cost is, to do the changes for the restrooms that are required to make this feasible and accessible,” Chapman told his fellow board members.

Chapman said his support for the policy stems from conversations with transgender students who asked for more accessible restrooms.

“I understand (the policy) fixes a lot of other things,” Chapman said. “It helps with our staff feeling more comfortable on both sides of how to handle situations. I absolutely understand that this policy is needed. I understand this policy is going to help a lot of people. But that was my initial support was because of the restrooms. And now I have to trust (that the board will approve the funding).”

The debate in Johnson County comes amid a recent flurry of proposed laws across the country that curtail the rights of the LGBTQ community. In Kansas, efforts to ban transgender athletes from girls sports failed in the state Legislature this spring, without enough votes in the House to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, the Republican nominee for governor, has said he will make a ban on transgender athletes competing in women and girls’ sports an early priority if elected.