Portsmouth School District has policy to explicitly keep the gender identity of students hidden from parents

Incidents


The Portsmouth School District has a policy titled “Student Gender Identity and Expression” that explicitly states staff should keep the gender identity of students hidden from parents: “School personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s gender identity and expression to others, including parents, and other school personnel, unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure. Students have the right to discuss and express their gender identity openly and to decide when, with whom, and how much to share.”

The policy then appears to mandate staff to use the preferred pronouns of students: “The persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity (for example, 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 also allowed to use the restrooms and locker rooms as well as participate in sports according to their preferred gender identity.