RSU 40 Board of Directors members Nichole Taylor, of Union; Noah Botley, of Washington; and Joshua Blackman, of Warren, discuss reinstating the district’s transgender and gender expansive student policy on the evening of Thursday, Aug. 1. Taylor, Botley, and Blackman all voted against reinstating the policy. Taylor said that the board could not reneg on a previous decision, while Blackman said the discussion represented a larger conspiracy and called gender theory “fake.” (Molly Rains photo)
The RSU 40 Board of Directors reinstated a district policy outlining protections for transgender and gender expansive students at their meeting on Thursday, Aug. 1, rescinding action taken on June 7 to delete the policy.
The decision followed comments from 13 members of the public and debate among board members that touched on religion, equity, board procedure, and conspiracy.
“The rationale I have heard for retaining the policy has been in line with our priorities as a board, and the code of ethics we’re supposed to follow,” said Waldoboro board member Benjamin Stickney, who voted in favor of reinstating the policy.
The Aug. 1 vote to reinstate the policy was 568-390 with the district’s weighted voting system, representing a change in course for the board, which had previously voted twice to delete the policy.
The transgender and gender expansive student policy was one of several focal points among candidates for several contested seats on the RSU 40 Board of Directors during the campaign cycle preceding the June 11 elections.
The policy, referred to as policy ACAAA, calls for staff and other students to use a child’s preferred name and pronouns, allows children who are gender expansive or transgender to use the bathroom that most closely matches their gender identity, and stipulates that staff take steps to support those students in their education, such as by suggesting that staff account for the higher risk of bullying faced by transgender and gender expansive students.
The policy does not stipulate a procedure for transgender and gender expansive students’ involvement in sports, instead calling for administrators to address this in accordance with Maine Principals Association guidelines. The policy also specifies that schools “cannot keep the change in name and/or gender a secret” from parents and guardians, who have a right to access all their child’s educational records.
Stickney and fellow Waldoboro board member Leah Shipps were among the new representatives elected in a contested race in June, with Shipps prevailing after an involved write-in campaign. Shipps also voted in favor of reinstating the policy and said in an email on Aug. 5 that she requested the item be added to the agenda.
On Aug. 1, she said it was important to have guidelines available for district staff and students at the start of the school year, even if the board later decides that the policy warrants revision, as some other board members had suggested.
“I’d be open to talking about it at the policy committee level, and possibly revising the policy, but it’s important that we have a policy in place,” Shipps said.
Other board members who spoke in favor of reinstating the policy referred to comments from community members, students, and staff at the Aug. 1 meeting, as well as comments made at prior school board meetings where the policy was discussed. Both meetings where the initial deletion of the policy was acted on drew hundreds of attendees and included hours of public comment.
“I didn’t see a petition presented asking you to remove the policy,” said Rachel Wilcox, of Union, who was also elected in June. “I saw a petition from 100 students asking you to keep the policy.”
MVHS rising sophomore C.J. Pleucker, who now serves as a student representative to the RSU 40 Board of Directors, presented the board with a petition in favor of retaining the policy on June 6. Pleucker said the petition had been signed by more than 100 students.
Board members who advocated to sustain the deletion included Nichole Taylor, of Union, who questioned whether the motion to rescind the deletion was valid under the framework that outlines the board’s governance. Under this framework, called Robert’s Rules, motions to undo actions previously made by the board cannot stand if such actions are “impossible to undo.”
Taylor compared the motion to delete the policy to a motion to paint a church, arguing that because the decision had already been made, it could not be undone.
Board Chair Danny Jackson, of Waldoboro, disagreed, saying his interpretation was that a deletion was not the kind of action that would be considered irreversible.
“You can’t unpaint a building, but you can reinstate a policy,” said Stickney.
Other board members who opposed reinstating the policy included Randy Kassa, of Warren, who said the policy needed to be amended, and Naomi Aho, of Warren, who argued that it was redundant.
The RSU 40 Board of Directors conducts a roll-call vote on whether to reinstate a previously deleted policy regarding transgender and gender expansive students on Thursday, Aug. 1. The board ultimately voted 568-390 to reinstate the policy. (Molly Rains photo)
“We are not leaving kids unprotected,” Aho said, pointing to the district’s nondiscrimination and equal opportunity policy and harassment policy as examples of other protections for students. Aho said she believed singling out transgender and gender expansive students for protection could create inequality between them and other students.
Board member Joshua Blackman, of Warren, who was elected in 2023, also opposed the policy, saying that it was representative of a larger conspiracy.
“This is pushed by elites who are trying to control the human population,” Blackman said. “The transgender movement is not grassroots. It has nothing to do with freedom of expression … it is an evil psyop (psychological operation) to dehumanize humanity.”
Blackman went on to say that being LGBTQ+ was “not normal and goes completely against human nature,” calling gender theory “completely false science.”
He also suggested that something added to the water and food supply, as well as the media, was “brainwashing” the public.
“You can’t even spell pride month without spelling demon as well,” he said.
Blackman’s address drew mixed reactions from the crowd and board, some of whom laughed while others remained silent.
“Some of you are very open in sharing your bias, and some of you are grasping at straws,” said Julie Swindler, of Warren, calling for the board to let go of personal opinions and reinstate the policy.
Board member Melvin Williams, of Waldoboro, moved the question at 8:26 p.m. This motion passed, ending debate and sending the board to a roll call vote.
Board members who voted to reinstate the policy included Jackson, Stickney, Swindler, Shipps, Julia Abernethy, of Washington; Erik Amundsen, of Union; Brooke Simmons, of Friendship;; and Emily Trask-Eaton, of Waldoboro.
Board members who voted against reinstating the policy included Aho, Blackman, Kassa, Taylor, Williams, and Noah Botley, of Washington.
Joseph Henry, of Friendship, who was elected in June, was absent.
In addition to Waldoboro, RSU 40 also includes the towns of Friendship, Union, Warren, and Washington.
The next meeting of the RSU 40 Board of Directors will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15 at the RSU 40 Central Office, 1070 Heald Highway in Union.
For more information, go to rsu40.org or call 785-2277.
