By Frank Mustac, Special Writer
Restroom availability and locker room accessibility at Hopewell Valley schools are just two topics addressed in a new school district policy titled “Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students” being considered by the Board of Education.
The school board on Monday unanimously approved introducing the policy by way of a voice vote. Board members Michael Markulec and Gordon Lewis were absent.
“The policy itself is not really controversial,” said board president Lisa Wolff. “It simply documents how the district is already working with transgender students. While it’s several pages long, I’d boil it down to two overarching positions. First, the responsibility for determining a student’s gender identity rests with the student. Second, all students, regardless of the underlying reason, will have options to ensure their safety, privacy and comfort.”
On June 20, the Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the policy, after which it will vote whether to adopt the measure.
The state Department of Education in 2015 began recommending school districts in New Jersey adopt a policy for transgender and gender non-conforming students.
According to language in the Hopewell Valley school’s policy document, the purpose of the new rules and guidelines is to provide “a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students, including transgender students, and to ensuring that every student has equal educational opportunities and equal access to the District’s educational programs and activities.”
The full text of the policy in PDF file format is available via the Hopewell Valley Regional School District website.
According a slide presentation shown at the school board’s work session on May 9, school district officials “have worked with Garden State Equality to address several situations in our district.” Garden State Equality is a statewide advocacy and education organization for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
Points of discussion listed in the slide presentation are gender identity versus biological sex; name changes versus official school records; restrooms and locker rooms; and staff training and ensuring the safety of students.
An additional sentence was inserted into the policy text after the school board members last met at its May 9 work session, according to Lisa Wolff, the board president. The sentence inserted in bold at the end of the policy section titled “Locker Room Accessibility” addresses clothes-changing areas. It reads as follows: “Accommodations (e.g., screening) will be provided to any student who may not feel comfortable in the changing area.”
Ms. Wolff explained why the sentence was added.
“If you read through the whole locker room and accessibility area, this is actually redundant because it already said if any student has a need or desire for increased privacy that we provide it,” she said on May 16.
“I think we want to reinforce that because we wanted to make sure that in our policy we were acknowledging the rights of both any transgender students who are in the locker room as well as any students who are not transgender who might also have concerns of privacy or comfort. So I think that we just put that in there to reinforce that.
“In a nutshell, you can read through all six pages of the transgender policy, but I would just say if I had to describe it in one sentence our transgender policy is that our students determine their own gender identity,” Wolff said.
The school board president also read aloud part of the policy that falls under the heading “Determining a Student’s Gender Identity.”
“The responsibility for determining a student’s gender identity rests with the student or, in the case of young students not yet able to advocate for themselves, with the parent or guardian,” Ms. Wolff read verbatim from the text.
In an email sent after the May 16 school board meeting, Ms. Wolff wrote, “While transgender issues have been in the news a lot lately, we started working on our transgender policy last year. We took a comprehensive look at the issue and also met last year with the Garden State Equality group. They were impressed with our district’s inclusivity including and beyond this policy.
