Niles Township High School District 219 does not automatically allow transgender students access to bathrooms and other gender segregated facilities that correspond with the gender they identify with, according to a district policy. The policy dictates that those decisions are made on a “case-by-case” basis. Evanston Township High School District 202 is working on an official policy on the matter that is “in the final stages,” officials from the neighboring school districts have confirmed.
A directive issued by the Obama administration last week requires school district’s to treat transgender students according to the gender they identify with as soon as a parent or guardian informs the district that the student’s identity differs from previous representations or records. Transgender students are not obligated to provide a medical diagnosis or identifying documents that reflect their gender, according the guidance from the departments of Justice and Educations, and equal access must be provided to transgender students even in situations when it makes other students uncomfortable.
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“Any decisions regarding accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with our board attorney, based on discussions with the student and the student’s family,” District 219’s Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Relations Jim Szczepaniak wrote in an email.
The directive comes amid a legal fight between the federal government and North Carolina over a bathroom access law passed by that state. The Department of Justice sued the state over the law, which requires transgender people to use the bathrooms, showers and changing facilities that correspond with the gender listed on their birth certificates. The DOJ argues the law violates the rights of transgender people.
Evanston Township High School District 202 Board of Education president Pat Savage-Williams said she’s personally “completely thrilled” about the directive from the Obama administration.
“It’s part of the equity work I believe in so deeply,” Savage-Williams said. “These are another group of individuals who tend to be marginalized that we need to, as a society, give some thought to how we can make sure we are respectful to and accommodating of.”
Director of communications and engagement for ETHS, Evangeline Semark, wrote in an email that the school is “committed to creating a safe, affirming, and healthy school environment.”
“We have been working closely with the Franczek Radelet law firm, the gender and sex development program? at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and the Illinois Safe School Alliance to provide staff with the professional development they need to support and accommodate students who identify as transgender,” she wrote. “We have been working proactively to create a school culture that respects and values all students and fosters an understanding of gender identity within the school community. The district is committed to working to support and accommodate each student individually based on their specific requests and needs.”
Semark said an official district policy regarding the use of school locker and bathrooms by transgender students has not yet been finalized or approved.
“As evidenced by the most recent guidelines from the Obama administration, the requirements have been evolving and we have been developing our policy, in cooperation with legal experts, for several months,” she wrote.
Semark said the school provides transgender students access to “facilities and school sponsored programs that are consistent with the student’s gender identity.” That includes bathrooms, locker rooms, she said.
“Regardless of gender identity,” she wrote in the email, “Any student who has a need or desire for increased privacy will be provided access to a reasonable alternative, such as a single-stall restroom.”
The District 219 policy, which was reviewed by the district’s board last July, is rooted in guidance from the Office of Civil Rights and the DOJ, according to district documents.
Per the policy, the school building principal, nondiscrimination coordinator and/or a complaint manager will work “with each transgender or gender non-conforming student, and as appropriate with the student’s parents or guardians, to manage a student’s accommodations and supports on a case-by-case basis. The board attorney will be consulted concerning legal compliance.”
The policy also states the district is required to protect transgender and gender non-conforming students from bullying or harassment by other students.
Szczepaniak wrote that the goal “is to provide access and opportunity for all our students in District 219.”
Federal officials say the directive is meant to clarify the expectations of school districts that receive federal funding.
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.