Mehlville School District has guidance to keep gender identity of students hidden from parents

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Mehlville School District seeking any guidance from the district regarding transgender issues. The district provided PDE with a document labeled as “Transgender Student Preferred Name Guidance” that was dated October 11, 2021. This document was meant for “building administration” and “school counselors.” This guidance is explicit in telling staff to not tell parents about the gender identity of their children “without the consent of the student.” The document states:

Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, school staff should carefully evaluate a student’s request and should generally avoid advising parents of such gender issues without the consent of the student unless there are circumstances where the welfare or safety of the student makes such disclosure appropriate.

The document further builds on this point: “If a student’s preference is not known to parent(s) or legal guardian(s), school staff (counselor|principal) should encourage the student to talk to their family about their wishes.” The document then states: “If student is hesitant to talk with parent(s) or legal guardian(s) then the school counselor|principal may facilitate a conversation between the student and family if the student wishes to pursue a preferred name request.”