(Lander, WY) – The Fremont County School District #1 school board will convene for a regular meeting tonight, June 18, where policies KBB and KBB-R, regarding parental rights and parental rights regulation, will go into second discussion.
(The policies were originally presented as KB and KB-R, but were updated for the second reading with draft revisions noted in the links above.)
The policies are in regards to Senate File 9, or Enrolled Act 8, Statute 213-135, which was passed by both houses earlier this year, and requires that each school district board of trustees establishes “rules, policies and procedures in accordance with this act” by no later than July 1 when the act goes into effect.
The bill states that each district shall:
- Notify a student’s parent or guardian as soon as practicable if there is a change in the student’s educational, physical, mental or emotional health or well‑being. (Procedures adopted under this paragraph shall reinforce the fundamental right of parents and guardians to make decisions regarding the care and control of their children by requiring school district personnel to encourage a student to discuss issues relating to his well‑being with his parent or guardian or to facilitate discussion with the parent or guardian)
- Not prohibit parents or guardians from accessing any of their student’s records created, maintained or used by the school district. Parents or guardians shall be provided access to their student’s education, behavior, health and other records within a reasonable time
- Not adopt or implement any formal or informal rules, policies, practices or procedures that prohibit school district personnel from notifying a student’s parent or guardian about the student’s educational, physical, mental or emotional health or well‑being or a change in the student’s related services as authorized under paragraphs (a)(i) and (ii) of this section
- Not adopt or implement any formal or informal rule, policies, practices or procedures that direct or, encourage or have the effect of encouraging a student to withhold from a parent or guardian information about the student’s educational, physical, mental or emotional health or well‑being
- Obtain written or electronic permission from each student’s parent or legal guardian not less than one (1) day prior to the student participating or receiving instruction in any trainings, courses or classes that address sexual orientation or gender identity
At the May 21 school board meeting where the first discussion of the bill and policies took place, board chair Jared Kail stated that Enrolled Act 8 stems from a “lawsuit in Rock Springs,” where parents are suing Sweetwater County School District (SCSD) #1 and school administrators for “allegedly allowing their child to use he/him pronouns and go by a boy’s name at school without their knowledge or consent.”
“There’s been one guiding principle that has already been decided out of that, which is districts can’t lie to cover up what’s happening with a student in terms of gender identity, however, the case is still ongoing,” Kail commented. “The legislature, apparently not wanting to wait until the case was over to do something, jumped in this session and created the Enrolled Act 8. Specifically what they want to do with Enrolled Act 8 is to ensure that the district is notifying the parents of these various changes.”
“I think this is really poor, really bad legislation,” Kail added. “The legislation specifically mentions gender identity and sexual orientation, so we have to have that in our policy.”
“On the other hand, and this is where things can really get into a mess; they did not define gender identity or sexual orientation in the ‘change’ portion of the policy,” Kail went on to say of the original KB policy.
As per his interpretation, Kail said this would “force the superintendent to make the decision on gender identity and sexual orientation” due to the fact that the policy later stipulates that “The Superintendent may adopt administrative regulations, procedures, and criteria which further clarify or define whether a reported change constitutes a change in the student’s health under this policy, so long as they comply with the definition of ‘Change’ above.”
“This policy, based on some ill-advised legislation, puts our superintendent at risk,” Kail concluded after stating that the district could be accused of discrimination or non-compliance legal issues depending on how the board goes about addressing the policy.
“That’s one of the biggest issues for me, is this policy is so vague as drafted here, and that little sentence, basically punts the whole weight of the policy onto one individual,” Superintendent Mike Harris went on to say.
Kail then added that it could also “put staff members in jeopardy,” and referenced a conversation he had with a counselor in Cheyenne who informed him that because of this bill and accompanying policies, their district has basically stopped offering any mental or emotional counselling services for fear of being put in a situation where a student confides in them and the district is forced to tell their parents something that the the student thought was told in confidence.
Kail then referenced signs on local counselors’ office doors that say things like “What is said in this room stays in this room.”
“Based on this policy, I don’t think we can actually say that anymore,” Kail surmised before adding that specific individuals were being sued in the Rock Springs case, in addition to the district as an entity.
During the public comment portion of that meeting, mother of students and former educator Sarah Reilley expressed concerns that students could be outed to their parents and be put in harm’s way under the current drafted policy.
“Unless a child is in immediate danger and their sexuality or gender identity are directly related to that danger, there is no reason for staff to provide that information to parents,” Reilley stated. “This is not meant to be a way to hide things from parents, but to protect students.”
“Parents who were otherwise non-abusive have removed their children from the home, become abusive and caused harm to their child’s mental health and even their physical safety upon learning that their child has become a part of the LGBTQ community,” Reilley continued.
Reilley then went on to ask that if the board considers changes to the policy, that they “add a clear statement preventing school staff from outing students,” which she maintains will still “fulfill the legal requirements of the legislation while ensuring that students’ rights are protected.”
“Please show our community that you really do respect the safety and well-being of every child in our district, not just the ones whose identities match yours,” Reilley asked of the board.
Mara Gans, a current CWC employee and substitute teacher/coach for FCSD #1, was the next public speaker and echoed Reilley’s sentiments, while also stating that the ACLU of Wyoming has already “raised concerns about Enrolled Act 8 violating the 4th Amendment.”
“I encourage you all to hesitate seriously about adopting the policy, I know there is a time crunch, but that policy may violate Constitutional rights,” Gans later added.
Gans then shared a personal story about a friend who came out as bisexual in high school, who utilized counselors to come up with a plan to come out to their parents. “If this policy would have been in place, she would not have had this opportunity.”
“I know many of you are parents, so I ask you this,” Gans continued. “If your student has a change to their sexual orientation or gender identity, do you want to hear that via text message from an administrator or do you want to sit down and have that conversation in person with your kid in your living room?”
That first discussion concluded with the board stating that the Policy Committee would review the policy and present it at tonight’s second discussion.
The meeting will take place in the district offices located at 863 Sweetwater Street, at 6pm, and the full agenda can be viewed here.
The meeting can also be viewed via Zoom, with Meeting ID: 884 3081 8252 and Passcode: w0Q3LN.