Hermon School Department has policy that appears to explain students can identify as transgender at school without parental knowledge or consent; district uses gender support plan created by LGBTQ organization Gender Spectrum

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Hermon School Department seeking any guidance on transgender issues. The district provided PDE with a policy titled “Transgender Students.” The policy is very similar to a policy that PDE received from a public records request to Maine School Administrative District 15 in which the superintendent of the district explained to PDE that the policy was created by the Maine School Boards Association (MSBA). The policy appears to explain that students can make decision regarding their gender identity without parental consent by claiming that students “or” parents can contact administrators:

A transgender student and/or his/her parent(s)/guardian(s) should contact the building administrator or the student’s guidance counselor.

Staff and students are mandated to use the preferred pronouns of other students: “A student who has been identified as transgender under these guidelines should be addressed by school staff and other students by the name and pronoun corresponding to their gender identity that is consistently asserted at school.” Students are allowed to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their preferred gender identity.

The district also provided PDE with a “Gender Support Plan” from Gender Spectrum. The organization Gender Spectrum is known for targeting young children with LGBTQ issues. The goal of the plan is to “create shared understandings about the ways in which the student’s authentic gender will be accounted for and supported at school.”

This plan notably asks: “Are guardian(s) of this student aware and supportive of their child’s gender status?” The next question then asks: “If not, what considerations must be accounted for in implementing this plan?”