By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — With virtually no comment, the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Board of Education has introduced a new policy that addresses the topic of transgender students — children whose gender identity differs from their gender assigned at birth.
The policy was introduced at the school board’s meeting Tuesday night. The second reading and final action on the policy, which is mandated for all public school districts by the New Jersey State Board of Education, will be held at a subsequent school board meeting.
Gender identity is defined as “a student’s deeply held sense or psychological knowledge of their own gender, regardless of the gender they were assigned at birth.” Transgender describes students whose gender identity is different from their gender assigned at birth — male or female.
The policy says that “gender nonconforming” means a student whose gender expression is different from stereotypical expectations, such as “feminine” boys and “masculine” girls, as well as those who are perceived as androgynous — having both male and female characteristics.
According to the policy, the school board “is committed to provide a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students.” The policy ensures that “all students, including transgender students, have equal educational opportunities and equal access to the school district’s educational programs and activities.”
“The responsibility for determining a student’s gender identity rests with the student or, in the case of young students who cannot advocate for themselves, with the parent,” the policy says. The school board will not question or disregard the assertion of a student’s gender identity.
School district officials will meet with the parent and student to discuss school-related issues, such as the name and pronoun — “he” or “she” — to be used by school district staff in referring to the student, and the gender identification to be used on the student’s records.
Other school-related issues include the student’s access and use of bathrooms, locker rooms, changing facilities, physical education classes, intramural and interscholastic athletic programs, and other gender issues affecting the transgender student and his or her attendance at school and participation in school programs, the policy says.
