The Yarmouth School Committee will consider Thursday a proposal to adopt new rules concerning transgender and “gender-expansive” students.
The proposed rules would require staff, in some cases, to withhold information from parents about the health and well-being of their children, according to a draft agenda of the meeting obtained by the Maine Wire.
The new rules would codify how the school would handle a hypothetical student who arrives in the district identifying as the opposite sex or who transitions genders while enrolled.
“If requested by the student, or if deemed necessary by the administration to address school-related issues, a meeting will be scheduled to discuss the student’s particular circumstances and needs. In addition to the student, and depending on the particular needs of the student, other participants in the meeting may include the parent(s)/guardian(s), a building administrator, a guidance counselor or social worker, the school nurse, and/or other school staff,” the new rule states.
In instances where a student has opted to identify as the opposite sex without informing his or her parents, the rules would require the school administrator to determine whether the student would be put at risk if the parents were involved.
“In cases where the administration determines the student will not be put at risk by engaging parents/guardians in the conversation, the administration will contact the student’s parents/guardians,” the draft rule states.
Whether schools should be required to disclose information about student mental health to parents is a question that has surfaced in the past year in school board meetings throughout Maine.
In Damariscotta, the Great Salt Bay Community School (AOD 93) is facing a lawsuit over several school staffers’ decision to exclude a mother from her daughter’s social gender transition.
The Yarmouth School Committee will consider the proposed rule change at 7:00 pm on Thursday in the Yarmouth High School’s Alumni Room.
Read the rules here:
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