Johnson County school board might ban trans students’ pronouns, choice of bathroom

Gardner Edgerton school board member Jeff Miller on Monday proposed a policy that would require staff and students to be referred to by their gender given at birth, threatening disciplinary action against anyone who would use an LGBTQ student’s preferred pronouns.

His proposal also would keep transgender students out of bathrooms designated exclusively to cisgender male or females.

Parents, he proposed, would have “cause of action against the district” for not complying with the policy.

Miller made his recommendation as a last-minute addition to Monday night’s school board agenda, without giving the public time to see his proposal. Several members of the majority-conservative board said that they have heard from parents concerned about bathroom and pronoun rules, and that the board should consider a new policy.

“Gender identification is a distraction in the schools,” board member Russ Ellis said. “We do have a problem with bathroom usage.”

The discussion has set off alarms for several parents and advocates, worried that such a policy would discriminate against LGBTQ students and make them feel unsafe.

“This policy as presented is infuriating for me,” Katie Williams, the lone progressive on the school board, said. “We’re here to value every kid. And this does not value every kid. This is unacceptable to me. We just met as a team and we all agreed that we wanted to foster a culture that created trust. How is punishing a kid, or any staff member or any other human for being who they want to be, how is that going to foster trust?”

During the meeting, Ellis took the issue far beyond transgender students’ rights.

“It’s a rumor as far as I’m concerned but (there is a) request for litter boxes for furries?” Ellis asked the board, referring to people who adopt an animal persona and dress accordingly. “This is more than just male and female gender identification issues. This is about multiple things.”

“I have not heard of that,” board president Lana Sutton replied.

“Have you heard of furries? Have you heard of people dressing up like cats?” Ellis asked.

District staff said that they have not heard of any such request in Gardner Edgerton schools. Claims by parents in other cities that schools have been providing students with litter boxes have been debunked.

The majority of Gardner Edgerton board members agreed that the district should take more time before agreeing on a new policy for bathrooms or preferred pronoun use, especially without legal counsel vetting it first. They decided to table the discussion for a couple of months, so that district staff can bring forward options.

Superintendent Brian Huff told the board that administrators already are working on policy proposals that would be “workable both in the courts and also in our community.”

The district has bathrooms for male and female students, as well as gender neutral bathrooms for those who wish to use them, officials said.

When it comes to preferred pronouns, district staff said that administrators “do their best” to work with family and student requests on an individual basis.

Ellis said he worries about the issues “filtering down into sports” in the district.

“You either have a Y chromosome or you don’t,” he said.

“This is a place of education,” Ellis said. “And we talk about making things comfortable for students. Well they’ve got a roof over their head. They’ve got air conditioning, heating, food, bathrooms. We provide that environment for them to learn.”

Williams warned that the proposed policy would be dangerous for LGBTQ students.

“As concerned as everyone was over COVID for the increase of suicide rates in our district, supporting a policy such as this one will definitely do that. It will increase our suicide rates by not accepting children and staff and anyone who is being themselves for who they are,” Williams said.

Board member Greg Chapman agreed that was a concern, and said that is why the district should take a “slow approach with legal counsel” to developing a policy.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there are no U.S. or Kansas statutes obligating schools to require students to use restrooms or locker rooms that correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Denying students use of those facilities that align with their gender identity may violate the U.S. Constitution and anti-discrimination laws, the organization says.

Similarly, it says that there is no Kansas or federal law requiring a school to refer to a student by the name or pronouns on their birth certificate.

The debate in the Gardner Edgerton district comes amid a deluge of legislation and 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 Kansas Legislature earlier this year without enough votes in the House to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto on the issue.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has proposed changes to Title IX — the federal law that protects against sex discrimination in education — that would prohibit schools and universities from discriminating against LGBTQ students. The proposal would compel schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity and address LGBTQ students by their preferred pronouns. Otherwise, schools would risk losing federal funding.

The U.S. Education Department must finalize the guidance before it can enforce the protections. The comment period on the rule runs through September.

Earlier this month, a federal judge temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from enforcing Biden administration directives that protect LGBTQ people in schools and workplaces from discrimination, siding with 20 state attorneys general, including those in Kansas and Missouri.

The judge argued that the guidance threatens the ability to enact and enforce state laws that would, for example, restrict transgender people from playing on sports teams and using bathrooms that match their gender identity.

Includes reporting by The Associated Press.