Kansas City Public Schools has policy that explicitly mandates staff to keep gender identity of students hidden from parents

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to Kansas City Public Schools seeking any guidance from the district regarding transgender issues. The school district provided PDE with a policy titled “Prohibition Against Illegal Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation – (Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Employees and Students).” This appears to be one of the earliest transgender policies adopted in the United States with an adoption date of February 27, 2013. The policy explicitly states that the gender identity of students should be hidden from parents.

School personnel may not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others, including parents, unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure. The district will not require the student to discuss his or her status with others.

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.”

Staff are mandated to use the preferred pronouns of students: “The intentional or persistent refusal to respect the gender identity of an employee or student after notification of the preferred pronoun/name used by the employee or student is a violation of this procedure.” Students are also allowed to use the restrooms and locker rooms and participate in sports according to their preferred gender identity.