Sussex-Wantage Board of Education Adopts New Policy on Transgender Students

The Sussex-Wantage Board of Education has approved a new policy on transgender students which will incorporate guidelines from the state Department of Education. According to the New Jersey Herald, the new policy replaces a less comprehensive one that the school district adopted in October 2015.

The new policy reportedly states the following:

  • Students must be allowed to dress, take part in school activities and sports, and use a chosen first name in accordance with their stated gender identity, regardless of whether they've legally changed their name.
  • The school district will "honor and recognize a student’s asserted gender identity, and shall not require any documentation or evidence in any form.”
  • Students can request that teachers and peers address them by their chosen name and request to have report cards and other school documentation prepared according to their chosen name.
  • "(If) a student has expressed a preference to be called by a name other than their birth name, permanent student records containing the student’s birth name should be kept in a separate, confidential file.”
  • Students can request that their parents not be notified of their transgender status but it "shall be addressed on a case-by-case basis.”
  • “Students may have access to the restroom or locker room that corresponds to the gender identity or expression that they consistently assert at school” but it will be made in consultation with the student and be based on a thorough review of what’s in their best interests. They can also request alternative arrangements involving the use of a private area.

Read the New Jersey Herald story here.

Photo: Sarah the Web Girl


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