Contoocook Valley School District has policy that allows staff to keep gender identity of students hidden from parents

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Contoocook Valley School District seeking any guidance on transgender issues. The district provided PDE with a policy titled “Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Procedure.” This policy states that the gender identity of students can be hidden from parents if there is a chance for perceived “psychological harm” to students:

Unless the District has knowledge that disclosure to parents presents a tangible risk of physical or psychological harm to students, the District should involve parents and support students in making disclosure of their gender identity or expression to their parents/guardians.

The policy discusses potentially bringing the issue to parents after receiving “consent” from the student:

Therefore, wherever possible, provided no concerns for the student’s safety or wellbeing would arise from the disclosure, the administrator should, with the student’s consent, arrange a meeting with the family to discuss the student’s transition.

Students and staff are also mandated to us the preferred pronouns of other students: “A student who has been identified as transgender or gender nonconforming under this procedure should be addressed by school staff and other students by the name and pronouns corresponding to their gender identity that is consistently asserted in school.” Students are also allowed to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their preferred gender identity.

The district also provided PDE with a document titled “Protecting Students from Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity: Compliance with Federal and State Anti-Discrimination Laws.” For the most part, the document just discusses the current state of laws. However, the document notably labels parents disagreeing with their children identifying as transgender as “discriminating” against their children in blatantly biased language:

Educators may wonder how it is conceivable that a parent could ever direct a district to discriminate against their child. However, such a situation currently exists where a parent refuses consent for services under the IDEA or Section 504. By not providing equal access to education based on the student’s disability, arguably the District is discriminating against that student. The difference between this and failing to treat a student consistent with their gender identity is that the latter involves a request that the District affirmatively engage in discriminatory conduct.