According to an email acquired by us, a Washington school administrator cautioned teachers to keep students’ school records that disclose a gender change from parents and provided them with guidelines on how to file such information into school systems.
According to an email acquired, South Kitsap School District Assistant Principal Tom Edwards advised teachers in a January “leadership memo” to ask a student if their family is aware of their gender change before speaking with parents. The guidance described a new way for instructors to use school databases to record a student’s gender shift and whether or not their identification should be hidden from their parents.
The guidance demonstrates, using the iconic fictional figure Harry Potter as an example, that if a student is fine with their change in name and pronouns being published, it will be reflected in their student records and visible to their parents or guardians. In this case, the student was originally known as “Harry Potter,” but is now known as “Helen Potter.”
If a kid does not want their new name to be revealed to their parents, their profile will be secretly marked inside the school and teacher databases, and their birth name will remain visible to their parents, according to the guidance. A transgender student’s record will reflect, hidden from parents, that they wish to go by a different name and that it is not to be used while speaking with relatives.
The instruction also used the iconic fictional figure Ron Weasley, who has transitioned to a female but does not want his parents to know. Teachers should be aware that Weasley prefers to be addressed as “Regina,” and that this name should not be used when speaking with family members.
According to the email, teachers are also given step-by-step instructions on how to update students’ records to reflect their gender change and how to disguise said changes from parents. Educators were instructed to disseminate the text “widely” in order to inform others.
All school district regulations, including the gender-inclusive school policy, are in accordance with “state and federal laws,” according to South Kitsap School District.
According to a district memo received through a Mom’s For Liberty Kitsap Chapter public records request, students are also authorized to use locker rooms and bathrooms based on biological sex rather than gender identification. The pamphlet, titled “Gender-Inclusive Schools: It’s the Right Thing to Do and the Law,” contains instructions on how educators should handle a student’s gender identification shift.
“The district will not condone the intentional or persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity or gender expression, or inappropriate release of information regarding a student’s transgender or gender-expansive status,” the document stated.
Instructors are reminded that students are free to wear in a manner that corresponds to their gender expression and that students are permitted to participate in line with their gender identification on overnight trips, according to the statement.
“The data, the medical research and the mental health research is on our side – parents – not policymakers,” Joy Gjersvold, Mom’s For Liberty Kitsap chapter chair, told the DCNF. “Now law supersedes the natural rights of a parent when it comes to raising their child. Public education has become the white van our parents warned us about, with the creepy predator in the front seat asking our children if they’d like a piece of candy.”
Edwards did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
