Randy Kassa, of Warren, distributes copies of a transgender and gender expansive student policy that he revised to fellow RSU 40 board members at the board’s Thursday, Jan. 19 meeting. Two hours of discussion about the policy, which was ultimately approved as written, focused on its language and intent. (Elizabeth Walztoni photo)
The RSU 40 Board of Directors approved a new transgender and gender expansive student policy with a divided vote at its Thursday, Jan. 19 meeting following two hours of deliberation over the policy’s language and intent. With the vote approving a second read, the new policy replaced a previous version.
“There was no specific reason (this) policy was brought to our board other than we work to review policies every few years and (this) is one of several policies that will be reviewed this year,” Superintendent Steve Nolan said in an email on Monday, Jan. 23.
The policy, which uses language provided by the district’s legal counsel Drummond Woodsum, of Portland, is not required by the state.
The district is, however, required to follow the Maine Human Rights Act with or without a policy guiding them on how to do so. The act prohibits discrimination based on traits including race, gender, and sexual orientation. Gender identity was added to the act as a protected trait in 2019.
Speakers at the Jan. 19 meeting who were in favor of the new policy said that the district needs guidance to help administrators follow the state law, which they felt the update provided.
Some against it said the new policy’s language was flawed, and others from the board and the audience said they did not think any policy should be in place.
RSU 40 has an active policy adopted in 2018 that directs the school in honoring student requests for name changes, pronouns, and use of bathrooms and locker rooms. The district’s separate policy for harassment, adopted 2020, includes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes.
Some audience and board members took specific issue with the new policy’s guidance for children who had not told their parents about their gender identity.
A portion of that policy reads, “the administrator should first discuss parent/guardian involvement with the student to avoid inadvertently putting the student at risk by contacting their parent(s)/guardian(s). The student will be notified by the administrator prior to contacting their parent(s)/guardian(s).”
The district’s existing policies do not address a course of action for students who have not informed their parents.
Several audience and board members said that they felt the new language was teaching children to keep secrets from their families and would minimize the rights of parents.
Others from the audience and the board disagreed, saying that the focus of the policy was to provide a safe environment at school so students could focus on their education.
Board member Randy Kassa, of Warren, said the policy also did not provide enough specific guidance for administrators. He presented a revised version which he said addressed weak points in the draft.
He asked board members to vote “no” on the policy, which would send it back to the policy committee for revisions.
Kassa’s version of the policy requires parents to be involved in requests from the school and requires the school and family to make a plan for the student, among other revisions. The existing policy language makes a plan optional.
He also changed the language surrounding bathrooms and locker rooms for students to use those matching their sex at birth.
Board member Erik Amundsen, of Union, said that even small changes to policy language could alter its meaning, and he thought the district should use the wording provided by their lawyers.
Matthew Speno, of Union, who chairs the board’s policy committee, returned the policy to Kassa.
Speno said that he is “all in” on his role and would revise the policy if it were voted down, but “remember who is going to be hurt by this: kids … I’m not going to put my beliefs on kids.”
“It is our job to put our opinion here,” Kassa said. “We’re not the educators here. The board has to be the grownups.”
Exchanges among board members followed about whether transgender and gender expansive students are legitimate and whether the schools should provide the supports to them outlined in the policy.
Members of the RSU 40 Board of Directors listen as Naomi Aho (third from right), of Warren, reads a prepared statement saying that students with gender questions should not receive accommodations at school. District Superintendent Steve Nolan said the district’s new policy is intended to help schools follow the Maine Human Rights Act. (Elizabeth Walztoni photo)
Naomi Aho, of Warren, said that “transgenderism” is a mental disorder and minors should be “left alone” until they grow out of gender questions rather than being “groomed, pushed, and told” about who they are by adults.
“It’s not a mental health diagnosis,” Emily Trask-Eaton, of Waldoboro, said. “Their brains are not formed, but they are entitled to their feelings and know them.”
“They are children, and our human brains are not fully developed at this age,” said Jeanette Wheeler, of Waldoboro. “We have a responsibility to the children.”
Board member Morgan Hynd said that the role of the board is to make sure that the district is following the law.
Speno invited two district principals – Julia Levensaler, of Miller School, and Linda Pease, of Medomak Valley High School – to address the board. The administrators asked board members to approve the new policy as written, saying that the existing policies gave them guidelines and saved them both time and stress in an already demanding, high-pressure job.
Levensaler said that she has used the existing policy to give her simple directions in following the law when student situations arise.
“Without that, I would have been lost,” she said.
Following these administrator comments, the policy came to vote.
Approval of the second read passed 11-4, or 643-284 using the board’s population-based voting formula. There were no abstentions.
Policies in place at RSU 40 are available online at rsu40.org. The next RSU 40 board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 1071 Heald Highway in Union.
