Middle- and high-school teachers were dressed for Halloween on the October day that a representative from The Attic Youth Center visited the Springfield Township School District in Montgomery County to train them on supporting their transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
Six months later, Springfield schools were among the first in the state to pass a policy outlining privacy rights for trans students, the handling of academic records, proper incorporation into sex-segregated programs like athletics, restroom and locker-room access and general harassment and discrimination protections. The vote was unanimous.
“It’s more than simply symbolic,” Superintendent Dr. Nancy Hacker told PGN. “We had an increasing number of trans students coming to us to support them and make some accommodations to help them. By more than a 2-to-1 margin of people I heard from in the district, they were overwhelmingly in support of the policy.”
Trans policy trend
Just a day apart last week, two suburban Philadelphia school districts adopted policies for their trans students. Great Valley School District in Chester County passed its policy April 18, followed by Springfield April 19.
More are expected, especially in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Lower Merion School District introduced its trans student policy and has a vote scheduled May 16. The School District of Philadelphia has a draft policy working its way through administration that’s expected to reach the School Reform Commission over the summer, said Rachel Holzman, deputy chief of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities.
The Pittsburgh Public School Board also plans to introduce a trans student policy at its meeting next month.
“They’re happening with more frequency,” said Jason Landau Goodman, founding executive director of the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, a statewide LGBT organization that has helped advocate for trans-affirming student policies for the last two years.
“We do certainly want to see this work taking off across the state,” he said. “We have 500 school districts and we have a huge student population. Trans students need their rights and opportunities codified into policies.”
Official business
The Pennsylvania Youth Congress has reached out to the Pennsylvania School Board Association and state Department of Education for further support.
The school board association said it would continue monitoring the situation, but did not commit to a model policy for trans students. Many districts directly adopt model policies published by the association, which is why its support would be crucial, Landau Goodman said.
Officials from the state Department of Education are expected to meet with the Pennsylvania Youth Congress in the coming weeks. Landau Goodman said he’d like state education officials to establish guidance for how school districts should respond to the needs of their trans students. Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance that trans students are protected from discrimination under Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and services. Landau Goodman said it would also be helpful for Pennsylvania education officials to provide resources and a model policy for school districts that are interested.
The Pennsylvania Youth Congress has been working on an in-house model policy and Landau Goodman travels to districts across the state to talk about trans policies and other LGBT concerns. His organization can be reached at 717-743-1035 or [email protected].
“Whether school boards are ready or not for a codified policy is one thing,” he said. “But school administrators are recognizing their duty to make sure all students have equal access to education.”
From practice to policy
Even without policies in place, many districts are already supporting their trans students in practice.
Holzman of Philadelphia schools said administrators and teachers work with students as they make them aware of new names and pronouns. A lawyer for the district, Holzman has guided officials on compliance with Title IX, including its applications for trans students. About a year ago, Holzman said conversations about a policy began with trans students, their parents and community stakeholders like The Attic Youth Center.
“It was absolutely time to codify that,” she said. “We certainly are aware of our transgender students. There are many more who may feel more comfortable coming out knowing there’s a policy in place that outlines their rights.”
Hacker from Springfield remembered one student who began identifying as female midway through high school. Students and teachers quickly adapted to her new name and pronoun. The only hiccup came at last year’s graduation day. The student’s parents wanted her old name on the diploma, while the student wanted her new name.
“We issued two diplomas,” Hacker said, “one to the student in her name, one to her parents in the original name. They were both very happy with that.”
Hacker said, going forward, staff can have Springfield’s policy in mind as a baseline while they continue training on trans and gender-nonconforming issues.
Kel Kroehle, director of The Bryson Institute at The Attic Youth Center, performed the Springfield training in October. They said the teachers had a “collective commitment to be teachable.”
They added the school showed due diligence in the language included in the policy. Hacker asked Kroehle if “gender-nonconforming” represented a negative concept. Kroehle posted the question on their Facebook page and sent 10 reflections from transgender people back to Hacker.
“If we’re going to bring these words into policy, we’re going to have to do it thoughtfully,” Kroehle said. “We never want to teach a static identity.”
Since the Springfield policy has passed, Hacker said she’s begun meeting with teachers and administrators about how it will impact their work.
“When you have a staff, not everybody thinks the same way,” she said. “But what we’re saying is when you work here, this is who we are as a school district. Between the hours of eight and four, this is how you treat people.”