A policy revision regarding discrimination on the basis of sex caused some discussion at the Aug. 12 meeting of the Oconto Falls School Board, with school district officials and board members saying the written policy only reflects the district’s current practices.
Like many area school districts, Oconto Falls contracts with a company called Neola, which crafts “legally compliant and customizable policies and guidelines for school boards and staff,” according to its website. The latest policy was an update of the policy regarding “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Program or Activities,” based on recent revisions in federal Title IX rules.
Several states have filed lawsuits challenging the rule’s provisions regarding discrimination against transgender students. A half-dozen residents expressed concerns that the new policy’s language was too vague or could lead to biological males being permitted to use girls facilities or compete in girls sports.
Superintendent Dean Hess said that much of the way Oconto Falls has been doing business relative to this topic is unaffected because the state of Wisconsin had already implemented rules against gender identity discrimination before the federal changes.
The school district has worked with all students and their families to ensure they have access and support, he said.
“We respect our students, and we want to ensure that all of our students have access to our programming and our activities,” Hess said. “In the last nine years that I’ve been here at the district, we’ve not had any complaints; we have had situations, however, where we’ve worked with students and their parents when concerns have been brought forward relative to access to activities or programming.”
The issues regarding bathrooms and locker rooms are not actually part of the legislation, he said.
“What the legislation is saying is that the expectation of a school district is that you are being thoughtful to all of your students, being respectful, and not being involved in discrimination and harassment based on sexual stereotypes, characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, orientation or identity,” Hess said.
The district and the school board’s policy committee worked with Neola to understand the ramifications and get multiple perspectives on the new policy, which basically identifies how to handle any complaints that might come up, he said.
“This is really about trying to be thoughtful and respectful of all of our students,” Hess said.
Board member Bryan Baumler echoed Hess’ remarks.
“What has been brought forward, the school district has been doing already, so it’s not like we’re implementing something that we have not already been doing,” Baumler said.
Hess added that he has “no reason to believe that this board of education at this point is wanting to integrate bathrooms or locker rooms between children. I do believe it’s the board’s intent to continue what we have been doing as a district, which is when we have situations like this — as we stated earlier — we work with the student … to try and come up with an alternative, and up to this point we’ve been successful at that.”
While he’s aware of “what could happen,” Hess said the district’s approach to date has worked fairly well.
“Thus far in Oconto Falls, the students and their families have been appreciative of the work to try and provide them with an area that they could use the facilities and not feel uncomfortable and not make other people feel uncomfortable,” he said. “I’m not going to say we’re not going to run into challenges down the road. There’s potential for that. With that stated, I think that the work that we do here, the work we do every day, helps to lay the foundation for being in a stronger place legally than if we don’t.”
Board President Clint Gardebrecht said the board is taking the issue very seriously.
“I do appreciate everyone who came in to talk on the topic; it doesn’t fall on deaf ears,” Gardebrecht said. “I think the district has done a good job of, when unique circumstances come up, to ensure that we don’t run into situations (and) we work it out with families and resolve the situation where we don’t put anyone at risk, regardless of who that person is.”
After the discussion the board unanimously approved the updated policy.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 17, on a 5-4 vote, rejected the Biden-Harris administration’s request to be allowed to temporarily enforce most of the new Title IX rules while its appeals continued.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
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