Vermont schools adhere to policies hiding student gender ‘transitions’ from parents: study –
(LifeSiteNews) — A bombshell study by the parental rights group Defending Education revealed that 199 public schools in Vermont have policies in place that permit staff to hide the “transgender” status of children from their parents. Almost 52,488 students attend these schools.
“The state of Vermont has 37 school districts and/or supervisory unions that have policies which appear to allow for school staff and teachers to keep a student’s gender transition hidden from parents,” the investigation, published on April 20, reads. “Most policies also permit students to participate in sports and use facilities that are in ‘accordance with their gender identity.’”
Vermont’s Agency of Education “best practices” pamphlet explicitly cites potential parental opposition to “transition” as a motive behind the “privacy” policy.
“Except as set forth herein, school personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender or gender-nonconforming status; this is protected under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),” the document reads. “Schools must work closely with the student (and with the family, if appropriate) in devising an appropriate plan regarding the confidentiality of the student’s transgender or non-conforming status that works for both the student and the school.”
It is implied that those families that will not support “transition” — for reasons ranging from religious beliefs to scientific and common-sense objections to gender ideology, or all of the above — should be cut out of the loop. The pamphlet is clearly written from an LGBT activist perspective, implying that “support” for the student means support for transition, even though parents might vigorously disagree with this characterization.
“Schools should recognize that the support of the student’s family may vary,” the document states. “Some parents may be very supportive and advocate for the student with the school, while others may not be. In all cases, for students under the age of 18, schools must develop a plan for information sharing which supports the student, while honoring a parent’s legal right to information.”
But as the New York Post reported, Vermont’s Agency of Education “also noted that students can keep their correspondence with the school in their legal name and assigned sex to avoid disclosures in documents to which parents legally have access, to avoid tipping them off to their child’s attempts and so-called gender transition.”
“The student may request that all correspondence between the school and the home use only the student’s legal name and assigned sex,” the pamphlet reads. “School personnel should discuss with the student first before discussing the student’s gender identity with the student’s parent or guardian and how written communication with the parent or guardian will refer to the student.”
To be clear: This is public school staff deciding with children whether or not to keep information from parents based on whether those parents might support a child transitioning or not. As the Windsor Southeast Supervisory wrote in its policy: “A transgender or gender nonconforming student will be able to discuss and express their gender identity and gender expression openly and to decide when, with whom, and how much of their private information to share with others.”
“Parents have a right to know any and all information that pertains to their children’s safety and health while at school,” stated Casey Ryan of Defending Education. “Refusing to be honest with parents regarding their child’s health is a direct violation of FERPA. Any school district in Vermont that continues to hide the preferred gender identity of students from their parents is in direct violation of federal law.”
The UK’s Cass Review — the most comprehensive evidence assessment on “transition” for minors — concluded that social transition an “active intervention” that “may have significant effects on the child or young person in terms of their psychological functioning and longer-term outcomes” and could “change the trajectory of gender identity development.” Specifically, the Cass Review found that social transition for children could actually lead to greater odds of continued gender dysphoria and found that outcomes are best when there is parental involvement with children.
Public school employees keeping secrets about children from parents is not only immoral — it is genuinely harmful.
Jonathon’s writings have been translated into more than six languages and in addition to LifeSiteNews, has been published in the National Post, National Review, First Things, The Federalist, The American Conservative, The Stream, the Jewish Independent, the Hamilton Spectator, Reformed Perspective Magazine, and LifeNews, among others. He is a contributing editor to The European Conservative.
His insights have been featured on CTV, Global News, and the CBC, as well as over twenty radio stations. He regularly speaks on a variety of social issues at universities, high schools, churches, and other functions in Canada, the United States, and Europe.
He is the author of The Culture War, Seeing is Believing: Why Our Culture Must Face the Victims of Abortion, Patriots: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Pro-Life Movement, Prairie Lion: The Life and Times of Ted Byfield, and co-author of A Guide to Discussing Assisted Suicide with Blaise Alleyne.
Jonathon serves as the communications director for the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform.
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