Pawtucket School Department has policy that appears to explain staff should keep gender identity of students hidden from parents

Pawtucket School Department has a policy in place titled “Transgender Nondiscrimination Policy.” The policy uses language that appears to explain the gender identity of students can be hidden from parents when communicating with home: “When contacting the parent or guardian of a student who is transgender or gender nonconforming, 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 later emphasizes this point: “It is recommended that district staff privately ask an individual at the beginning of the school year how they would like to be addressed in class, in correspondence to the home, or at conferences with the individual’s parent or guardian.” The policy then appears to threaten staff into using the preferred pronouns of students: “The intentional or persistent refusal to respect an individual’s gender identity (for example, intentionally referring to the individual by a name or pronoun that does not correspond to the individual’s gender identity) is a violation of this policy.”

Students are allowed to use the “restrooms, locker rooms and changing facilities” that match their preferred gender identity. Students are also allowed to participate in sports according to their preferred gender identity.