Washington Elementary School District appears to keep gender identity of students hidden from parents

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Washington Elementary School District seeking any guidance from the district on transgender issues. The district provided PDE with a few records, including a document titled “WESD Support Plan for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students.” This gender support plan asks: “Which name and gender pronouns will be used in guardian communications?” The options are “Preferred Name and Gender Pronouns” or “Legal Name and Gender Pronouns.” This is usually a tactic by school districts to not reveal the gender identity of students to their parents.

The gender support plan is then more blatant in telling staff to keep the gender identity of students hidden:

Therefore, given the sensitive nature of the information when speaking with parents, guardian, other staff members, or third parties, school staff should not disclose a student’s preferred name, pronoun, or other confidential information pertaining to the student’s transgender or gender identity status without the student’s consent, unless authorized to do so by State law or unless specifically authorized to do so by WESD Legal Services.

PDE additionally received a video presentation from the district titled “Supporting WESD’s LGBTQ+ Students” that is dated July 2023. This presentation tells district staff: “It’s important to note that sex and gender are not interchangeable.” [Time Stamp: 3:25] Staff are also told when dealing with students that they should be “validating their feelings.” [Time Stamp: 4:45] This presentation appears to contradict the gender support plan document and states that “families need to be informed and involved in the development of a gender support plan.” [Time Stamp: 6:35]

The district additionally provided PDE with a resolution titled “Washington Elementary School District No. 6 of Maricopa County, Arizona Resolution Recognizing and Affirming LGBTQ+ Students and Staff” that is dated July 28, 2022. This resolution states that LGBTQ issues will be implemented into the curriculum taught to students: “WESD believes it is our duty to honor, value, and affirm our transgender, nonbinary, and all LGBTQ+ students, staff, and families through our policies, practices, and curriculum.”

The resolution also states that the district “will review all WESD policies that currently include language about sex, which includes sexual orientations and transgender status (U.S. Supreme Court, Bostock v. Clayton) and amend them to include gender identity and expression.”