Teachers will not be forced to address students by the pronouns that match their gender identity even if a parent asks them to, and transgender students will be barred from playing sports after the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District board approved two new policies targeting gender identity on Monday night.
The new policy also stipulates that individuals in district schools can only use the bathroom that aligns with their sex assigned at birth. It’s the latest move by a school board to more formally exclude transgender youth in schools. The board voted ended 4-3 in favor of these policies and several others. Board members Casey Ford, Shannon Braun, Tammy Nakamura, and Kathy Florence Spradley voted for it. Members Jorge Rodríguez, Coley Canter and Becky St. John voted against.
The meeting lasted nearly eight hours, and more than 150 parents and North Texas residents signed up to speak about the proposals before the board was expected to vote.
Ford said the policies were what the school district’s community wanted and were in accordance with state law.
“These policies are the product of input from several groups — the board’s policy committee, the district’s attorneys, the board’s attorneys, a committee of administrators and principals and, most importantly, community members,” Ford said. “But one group that’s had the most input and influence: the Texas state Legislature.”
St. John, who voted against the policies, disagreed.
“This policy is going to harm students in the classroom [and] overburden our teachers for a political agenda,” St. John said.
The Grapevine-Colleyville district, between Dallas and Fort Worth, just added Nakamura and Spradley to its seven-member school board in May. Both received donations from the Christian cellphone company Patriot…
Teachers will not be forced to address students by the pronouns that match their gender identity even if a parent asks them to, and transgender students will be barred from playing sports after the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District board approved two new policies targeting gender identity on Monday night.
The new policy also stipulates that individuals in district schools can only use the bathroom that aligns with their sex assigned at birth. It’s the latest move by a school board to more formally exclude transgender youth in schools. The board voted ended 4-3 in favor of these policies and several others. Board members Casey Ford, Shannon Braun, Tammy Nakamura, and Kathy Florence Spradley voted for it. Members Jorge Rodríguez, Coley Canter and Becky St. John voted against.
The meeting lasted nearly eight hours, and more than 150 parents and North Texas residents signed up to speak about the proposals before the board was expected to vote.
Ford said the policies were what the school district’s community wanted and were in accordance with state law.
“These policies are the product of input from several groups — the board’s policy committee, the district’s attorneys, the board’s attorneys, a committee of administrators and principals and, most importantly, community members,” Ford said. “But one group that’s had the most input and influence: the Texas state Legislature.”
St. John, who voted against the policies, disagreed.
“This policy is going to harm students in the classroom [and] overburden our teachers for a political agenda,” St. John said.
The Grapevine-Colleyville district, between Dallas and Fort Worth, just added Nakamura and Spradley to its seven-member school board in May. Both received donations from the Christian cellphone company Patriot…Read Morelocal_news
