Fall Mountain Regional School District has policy to keep gender identity of students hidden from parents

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Fall Mountain Regional School District seeking any guidance on transgender issues. The district did not respond to PDE’s request. However, the school district does have a policy posted online titled “Transgender Students” that was adopted on June 12, 2023. The district’s policy explicitly tells staff to keep the gender identity of students hidden from parents:

School personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others, including parents and other school personnel, unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure. Transgender and gender nonconforming students have the right to discuss and express their gender identity and expression openly and to decide when, with whom, and how much to share private information.

The policy then builds on this point: “When contacting the parent or guardian of a transgender or gender nonconforming student, school personnel should use the student’s legal name and the pronoun corresponding to the student’s gender assigned at birth unless the student, parent, or guardian has specified otherwise.”

The policy appears to mandate staff to use the preferred pronouns of students: “The intentional or persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity (for example, intentionally referring to the student by a name or pronoun that does not correspond to the student’s gender identity) is a violation of this policy.” Students are allowed to use the restrooms and locker rooms as well as participate in sports according to their preferred gender identity.