South Burlington School District mandates teachers to keep transgender status of students secret from parents; mandates staff and teachers to use preferred pronouns of students

The South Burlington School District has a guidance document online titled “Continuing Best Practices for Schools Regarding Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students.” The document includes an entire section titled “Privacy” that explains the transgender status of students should be kept a secret from parents and families. The district explains:

The support of the student’s family may vary. In adopting a student-centered approach, a school can best support a transgender student by involving the student regarding how and what information about the student is shared within the school and between the school and the student’s home. Some parents may be very supportive and advocate for the student with the school. Other students may not have a supportive home environment. In those cases, schools should develop a plan for information sharing which supports the student, while balancing a parent’s right to information.

The district also mandates that staff and teachers use the preferred pronouns and names of students: “Students should be addressed by school staff by the name and pronoun corresponding to their gender identity.” Students can also participate in physical education and sports according to their preferred gender identity. Students can additionally use the restrooms and locker rooms of their preferred gender identity.

The district lists resources in the document used to create this guidance. One resource is a document created by several organizations known for pushing gender ideology onto students, including the Human Rights Campaign, Gender Spectrum, National Education Association (NEA), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. This document is titled “Schools in Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K-12 Schools.”

The Human Rights Campaign is a political organization that advocates for corporations and schools to adopt LGBTQ issues in their businesses and curricula. The organization has a history of working with schools, teachers unions, and the federal government to push LGBTQ activism into the nation’s education system. The organization additionally promotes using lawsuits to block laws that would protect children from being taught gender ideology while at school.

The organization Gender Spectrum offers resources specifically targeting “youth” and even teachers. Gender Spectrum offers resources to educators on a page titled “Integrating Gender Diversity Into Everyday Curriculum.” This page explains that the discussion of gender can be integrated into subjects like history, science, mathematics, and even physical education. In targeting the youth, Gender Spectrum offers online chatrooms for children as young as 10 years old who identify as “trans” or “non-binary.”