001to order the September 18th meeting of the River Falls Board of Education this meeting has been properly notified and we will begin with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all do we have any visitors or delegations who would like to address the board this evening I see a few people making their way up if you would like to address the board please tell the board your name and limit your comments to two minutes now people who have come to meetings before know that I like to be gracious in terms of not stopping your minute your two minutes when you are in the middle of something to say
002although today I am planning to be able to keep you really close to two minutes so please watch the timer and listen for the Bell all right the first speaker okay Jackie nicum city of River Falls this is regarding the 411 rule Point number one it appears from this current version of the 411 rule that a student can request the school to honor his or her identity change without notifying the parent formal changes would require parental involvement so in other words the school will go along in pretending a gender change Point number two the 411 rule policy change from transgender students to gender diverse students is obviously meant to include those students who pretend they are cats or dogs Point number three from an article dated August 19 2016 and the Red Wing newspaper Mr
003Benson is quoted as saying that there was little dissent regarding the transgender policy dated October 19 2015. so that was a year later and he was quoted in this article Mr Benson said very few community members had any idea excuse me excuse me saying that there was little dissent regarding the transgender policy Mr Benson very few community members had any idea this was being incorporated into school policy and that is still true today Point number four I find it interesting that this policy is so important to miss Myers that she delayed the final vote on it until she could be present Point number five page number four of the 411 rule for today's Meeting Lists the final approval date of this policy as September 18 2023. I guess that means that it's already approved it's
004a done deal Point number six thank you to miss Curtis for standing with parental notification and voting against the first reading of this policy thank you the next speaker please there are now states that have passed legislation requiring parental notification if their child requests a pronoun change these states are Alabama Arkansas Florida Indiana Iowa Kentucky Montana North Dakota Tennessee and Utah Ms nicum your time is up nation of children and even the pornographic reading material in the classroom that it is no wonder that there is so much confusion for them your time is up when this school keeps this type of information from parents you are a potential participant in The Grooming of that child thank you would anyone else like to address the board this evening please tell us your name my name is
005Aaron herfindall and I would like to share a letter of from my mother in support of this new gender policy change to the school district of River Falls members of the board I'm writing today as a support as a voice of support for the new gender diversity policy proposed by the board's book as the mother of three sons that have either graduated from or are still attending the riverfall schools I applaud the district for developing and bringing forward this policy it is my passionate belief that the best thing we can do for our children is to love accept and celebrate them for who they are not who we want them to be and it is the sacred task of teachers to hold and protect spaces for all students to be who they truly are in
006a time when our youth are facing unprecedented mental health challenges we must do all that we can to protect defend and hold these spaces particularly for our most vulnerable students this policy will do that for possibly one of the most vulnerable populations of all in all our schools and communities as the mother of three sons one being gender diverse I know that this policy is necessary important and life-changing I know that there are feelings of fear surrounding these policies stemming from the unknown lack of understanding and those who lack exposure to differences in people but that fear should not rule the day doing what is best and right should be our utmost priority The Next Step needs to be moving this policy into practice which supports uplifts and protects all students but particularly our most
007vulnerable I ask you to vote to enact this policy for all our students because as a much wiser leader than I once said Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere and tonight to deny any of our children the ability to be their true selves is an injustice and is a barrier to receiving their best education possible Thank You Caroline herfindall [Applause] good evening my name is Carmen Gillis and I have children in the River Falls School District I'm addressing policy 411 on transgender students if I had known about this policy in 2015 when it was originally written I would have spoken up but I had more trust for our district back then this policy is dangerous to our children it promotes the lie that a man can be a woman and a woman can
008be a man if I told you I was fat but it was visibly clear I had an eating disorder like anorexia I would hope someone would have enough love for me to speak truth and get me the help I needed instead of letting me believe I was fat and then starved to death to tell a child that because of their in the policy words deeply held in sincere sense that their chromosomes lied to them is the opposite of Love Love and Truth go together and it is disappointing to see truth thrown out in this policy we can empathize with feeling as adults it is our responsibility to be honest there are many wonderful wonderful teachers in this district and it is wrong for the district to state in this policy that staff will honor a
009transgender student's request to be addressed by a chosen name I feel for every teacher who will now need to decide if they stand up for truth in their conscience or if they go along with lying to students I commented on the bathroom section this policy Last Time by All State it is completely unsafe physically and mentally for female students to be in a bathroom or locker room with a biological mail the last section I will comment on in this policy is regarding parental involvement the policy states that based upon exceptional circumstances related to the students safety or mental health the superintendent May suspend the parent Guardian consent requirements I understand not every home situation is ideal but that does not give the school district the right to not inform parents parents are the parents and
010not the schools this policy is destructive and not helpful in any way it is not loving and I'm just disappointed that this was written in 2015 and now being revised thank you for your time good evening Jim souder Community member you've heard me before object to this policy I think it's unnecessary I'd like to see it suspended altogether the courts are divided on this there's a lot yet to be determined and yet we keep hearing that some judge ruled a certain way there's still a lot of Court left to be done I think that Common Sense can rule here I think we can honor children we can honor parents without putting it into policy that is so restrictive and ties the hands really of common sense now I agree with what I just heard from
011the last speaker however I just want to emphasize and ask one more time that the board publicly when you when you deliberate publicly that you do state your position on whether or not you will follow through with discipline for a conscientious objector if a teacher or a staff member there are over 500 according to this little handout if somebody in that group decides that is against their moral laws within their heart to not call a student who they know to be a male by a female name or opposite of that they would be disciplined by this policy so further clarification needs to be made and I think it you owe it to the 500 staff members to know where they stand on this issue will they continue to work here I don't know will they
012continue to write it out for a year I don't know but I think being honest about the intention of this board with regard to teacher discipline or staff discipline is very important I'd like to hear everybody's opinion thank you hello my name is Hal Watson I am from uh right here in River Falls I am a parent that has raised three children through the school district I support the changes to rule 411 and the work that the board and the School District administration has done on this topic I don't have any problems in terms of this the safety aspect because I think that the board has done a good job of supporting all of the students in this pal with this policy I believe that um that we that this policy takes into account all
013the different perspectives threads the needle gives the administration the flexibility to to take individual perspective on individual situations and and I think you've done a good job on that from reading the policy through my perspective is that is that you've looked at it from all sides you've taken your legal obligations into account and that and that you are doing the right thing if you adopt this policy as someone who studied anthropology I can tell you from that there are a lot of different ways to live and be in this world once we get outside of our own community and I think that this policy respects the students and the way that they want to live in their world thank you hello my name is Brenda Larson I have a graduate from River Falls School District
014and two children currently in the district I'm speaking to Nate in favor of the policy under consideration a couple reasons first is that whether or not gender diverse students are acknowledged and that their choices are affirmed in the River Falls School District these students will continue to identify themselves in gender diverse ways but if the school board doesn't put policies into plays protecting these students they'll have to do so without the support of their school and possibly their teachers and peers the research on this is heartbreaking showing High rates of suicide and suicide attempts for gender diverse youth that do not feel support from their family and from their Community again increased rates in suicide and Suicidal Thoughts From those that do not feel support not just from people that identify in gender diverse ways
015unsupported gender diverse students and people in addition to thinking about gender diverse students I'm thinking of my own children who do not identify in a gender diverse way I want them to grow up with the knowledge that there is diversity in our world as the last gentleman said and that this diversity should be celebrated rather than feared I want my children to be prepared to go out into their post-high school lives with the knowledge of what it looks like to be considerate and respectful for everyone they come into contact with and I want them to be able to use and have had practice using inclusive language and understanding inclusive policies that they will almost certainly have in their future educational and work settings in a world that is much larger than River Falls um this
016was something I will admit had fear or uncertainty in a lot of qualms around this issue until I myself as a 40 some year old did some of my own research if anyone's looking at an easily accessible book that helps understand what a child that as the policy says has deeply held in sincere sense or psychological knowledge of One's Own gender that's different than what they're assigned at Birth I'd recommend a book by Lori Frankel entitled this is how it always is thank you thank you I'm Bonnie Jones with tune my daughter graduated from here with wonderful education and I want to say how supportive I am of this hard-working board you are putting in place a policy that I wish had been in place for my gender diverse niece nephew when excuse me when
017um when Charlotte decided she was Charlie the family struggled but what she really struggled with was a non-supportive school it was very hard she attempted suicide twice she's been in therapy ever since and so I'm speaking to this as a person who's really directly involved in our family we have two gender diverse individuals in our family one was in a school system somewhat similar to this where there was some support another was in a school system that probably reflects more what's going on in Arkansas and Florida it was difficult I commend you and I thank you and I support all the work that you're doing on gender gender diversity in this excuse me this community thank you my name is Carol motis I'm a resident of the River Falls School District and I'd like to
018acknowledge the concerns that some of our residents have with this policy it reminds me very much of when drinking fountains were integrated in the South when schools were integrated in the South there is that uncertainty when we're used to when we've grown up with a certain mindset to have to uh to change that but I'm looking at 2023 12024 this is not a local issue this isn't a River Falls issue this is an issue that's being spoken about nationally and internationally I'm Vice chair of a very large University's research board and a gender diversity is something that has got to be accepted in all research binary identity is not acceptable anymore and I really appreciate the fact that our school district and School Board are addressing this now because if we don't we'll be left
019behind so the people who are very concerned about this I'd like to invite them to be part of the solution rather than part of a problem of not addressing this at this time and let's work together to come together with a plan that does work for all of us sooner rather than later thank you hi my name is Pam sowder and you guys know that I often I'm a Community member I often bring things to you that I hear from people in the community so one of the things I want to do is I want to say thank you very much for responding to um several requests regarding the human growth and development curriculum that um people in the community have asked for AKA sex ed and sending that agenda from I think it was
020April 2022 I just got it last month because most people did not know about it and also the scope and sequence that they had that had embedded links so that's helpful to community members particularly parents whose children have those courses and um I know you guys are updating the correct or your website and so one request would be can you please put that in the links when you put in the curriculum and whoops sorry um also um um please be proactive in um including um the portion of the human growth advisory committee I know that in the rotation that you are having there there are no plans to be meeting anytime soon but I know that you can also request a meeting when you want in the curriculum rotation and so I'm asking that you
021please put that in advance to on the website transparently so that people can start thinking about it and have sufficient time to apply for that so thank you very much for that response because there are people that were wondering about that and I'm just going to say that thank you okay hi my name is Jennifer Willis Rivera I am a Community member of River Falls and I had two children go through the River Falls School District from kindergarten on and I am speaking in support of uh 4.11 and I do have a son who is transgender and so I've done a lot of research on this topic people have been talking about fear of um sexual assault in locker rooms and the research actually shows that transgender youth who are segregated in locker rooms or
022bathrooms um 36 percent of them are sexually assaulted which compares to youth in general in the high school middle school range of 24 percent so it's actually the transgender youth who are much much more in danger by having this High segregation so I commend that you are allowing students who identify particular genders to be able to use the facilities that fit their gender I also know that for my son having the support of his teachers in all kinds of things anxiety depression um I feel like his life was saved one day when he had a panic attack in class and the teacher kind of pulled him out and sat in the hallway with him right the teachers at River Falls High School all the schools um have been phenomenal and have really been able to
023work with our kids both as a group but also pay attention to their individual needs and that is what this policy does so I thank you very much hi my name is Cindy Carnahan I'm a Community member I have two children who graduated from RF high school and I'm also a social psychologist and so when I look at this policy what I see is something that's thoughtful and nuanced and carefully worded I think well written and also scientifically informed which is important as Jennifer mentioned the the youth who are the most at risk are the gender diverse Youth and so this is a policy that will help protect them and I appreciate that and I'm grateful for it and also as an educator myself I know how important it is for children to feel validated
024and affirmed it's hard to learn when you're focused on feeling threatened and feeling like you're not cared for so I appreciate it from that perspective as well so again just want to add my support for the policy and the hard work that you've done I know how hard it is to write things like this and I think you did an excellent job so thank you hi my name is Tristan Sprague Williams and I'm a Community member I have one school district and the second one coming up and I just wanted to I'm glad I got here just in time uh to be here and voice my support for the policy on transgender students and their use of bathrooms and Facilities I I wanted to I want I wish I'd heard more because I wanted to
025have a chance to speak in response to um to the others but I can speak in response to what I heard at the previous reading of this policy I I heard you know some folks voicing concern about um gender students feeling afraid or uncomfortable and sort of the the perspective that this was unfair um and I just wanted to recall my friend Vicki kobian and her comments that she offered last time because I thought she made some really meaningful comments she was speaking from a religious perspective but even from a secular perspective what her her words were very meaningful to me because um she spoke about facing her fear and facing the unknown and doing what is what is Right despite despite one's fear and so I think I just wanted to sort of remind
026everybody of that and I really wanted to say that I believe that what this policy states and what it supports is is really the right thing to do and for those who feel who feel doubt I just wanted to offer some support and encouragement excellent hi my name is Dana Anderson logic I'm a parent in the district I'm an employee of the district and I'm a product of the district I'm just going to make a few quick points I'd like to thank the board for proposing a science evidence-based policy I also want to make the point that gender is separate from sexuality it is not the same thing they're not the same issues I would like to also note that this policy makes room for individual locker rooms and bathrooms for students regardless of whether
027they are gender diverse or not if a student does not feel comfortable in a locker room that um supports personal gender identity that they are available to use an individual restroom or locker room that is in the policy I'd also like to point out that we're raising our students to be adults in this world and this world is diverse that's not going away I'd also like to say that this world um sorry I lost my point um regardless we have the opportunity to support our staff now and why would we not make that decision thank you hi my name is face Greg Williams I'm a resident of River Falls and I have one child in the district so I know one concern that people have with this policy is that they're concerned it may make
028some kids feel uncomfortable or unsafe so I thought we should consider the options and what effect they may have on kids comfort and safety one option is to allow trans kids to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender in this option all students are able to choose the bathroom that feels to them most comfortable and safe if any cisgender kids feel uncomfortable with the possibility of sharing a bathroom with a trans kid then they have the option of using a single stall bathroom so I do not see any negative effect on students feelings of safety in this scenario the other option is that we don't allow trans kids to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender in this job cisgender kids are still able to choose the bathroom that makes them feel most
029comfortable and safe but trans kids are not given that same choice on top of that the trans kids get the message that their school is not supportive of their identity does that have any effect on students feeling of safety let's consider that in 2017 the Center for Disease Control did a survey among high school students that found that trans kids are more than four times more likely to feel unsafe going to school than cisgender kids they are almost five times more more likely to be threatened or injured with a weapon at school they are three times more likely to experience sexual violence and trans kids are five times more likely to attempt suicide than cisgender kids on the flip side several studies have found that when trans youth have affirming School environments they feel safer
030and are less likely to attempt suicide so which of these two options creates a greater feeling of safety and comfort for our students and which puts more kids in danger to me it is clear that allowing all kids to use their preferred bathroom is the option that is going to create the greatest sense of safety at school for our kids and that is why I support this policy and I thank you for considering it hi I'm Beth Evans I'm a parent of three kids in the district as a parent of gender expansive children I support this policy and believe that it is the duty of our school system to support our future generation and how they express themselves I see on a daily basis how our students are affected both by supportive and unsupportive environments
031I have watched in real time the Improvement in Mental Health and Social involvement when students are supported as our kids grow I believe it's our job to guide them and support them in becoming their best selves not to tell them who they are or to restrict their potential in becoming their best selves I believe that this policy will be a step in the right direction for our students as we grow along with them and learn from them how to become our best selves Andrew Branham a Community member and proud parent of a transgender individual at our high school I spoke at the last one I wanted to continue to reiterate that there is a lot of thought effort and intentionality put into this listening to community members and their concerns the one thing that I
032wanted to bring out specifically is the names and pronouns the one thing that I appreciate in the policy is that names and pronouns being used upon request by the learner by the student will be respected by teachers there is not a lot of extra effort that's required to use names that they prefer to use pronouns that they identify with that's what I've always said about parenting my child is if they wanted to use a different pronoun a different name they were still the same person they were still the same Soul the same essence of a person I believe that in their years in Greenwood Meyer and River Falls High School that their teachers have used the pronouns and the names that they prefer their their personal pronouns that they identify with without a policy that
033says they will respect I have not known a teacher yet to have any sort of individual conflict of interest or any conflict with calling my child by the name and pronouns so just wanted to thank you and I appreciate the fact that they that there is lots of effort put into contacting parents working with the children to facilitate a conversation if it's not quite safe to do so to come out to their parents with their name and pronoun and it's not keeping things from parents thank you would anyone else like to address the board this evening hello my name is Peggy Gantt and I'm a teacher here in the district for the last 20 years and I just wanted to address the board in terms of staff and the expectation put on them to embrace
034students when I'm a teacher in a classroom I'm not looking at a student in terms of their religious Faith their background whether they're rich or poor excuse me that run um I'm there to teach a student I leave my Personal Agenda at the door and so to me gender diversity is the same thing it's inclusivity it's about teaching the student not focusing on what I personally feel is right or wrong so would anyone else like to address the board all right then we are going to move into informational items and the first one is an acknowledgment perhaps you realize that our school board is part of What's called the Wisconsin associations of school boards that means that we have support from this conglomeration of school boards and the staff that works to Advocate on behalf
035of school boards in Wisconsin they also take a strong role in helping to educate us as board members so that we are prepared to do our jobs one of the things that wasb does is keeps track of the length of time that each individual School Board member takes in terms of continuing education and learning about our role so tonight we are able to acknowledge that Cindy Holbrook our vice president has been recognized for attaining a level two which means she is continuing to learn more about school board service I don't have a plan so I don't know why but thank you Cindy all right we are now going to move on to some reports and the first one we we don't have a student on the board right now so we're going to move to
036number two administrative reports about building um smart goals so I think that we'll begin with River Falls High School followed by the Renaissance Academy so Mr lidke you're up good evening kit lidke High School principal uh our hope is to have a student board rep for you this upcoming October meeting at our high school we have three specific smart goals many of what you've heard before we continue to stay on those Pathways thanks to your support in our new school calendar the first that we would want to talk through my eyesight's not the greatest anymore would be I believe our professional learning communities I hope that's the one that's up there if not I'll wing it with our professional learning communities we have over 25 different late starts our staff is working on curriculum revisions
037and uh common informative assessments that means that we're taking the state standards and realigning our assessments to meet those standards and that good work has started already with our first late start last week and we have another late start this week so we average about three per month our next goal that we have is our academic and career planning and our College and Career Readiness it has been our three-year goal as a district to increase the number of students at our College and Career ready you will hear more from our entire team next month at your board meeting as it relates to that we've dedicated a lot of time and have shown tremendous growth in that whether that is students taking upper level College coursework whether it's students again having work based and youth apprenticeships
038we've had lots of our students have lots of on-the-job training or different academies as well and you'll hear more from our team as it relates to that the last is our character Ed initiative we've had character education obviously as a part of our district for many many years we're becoming more intentional at the high school in in talking about culture with our students this year we did something different we have four quarterly meetings with each and every grade level that's catered based on character education we talked about a goal setting and how it relates to our learner profile in our academic and career planning so this uh first second week of school that we had we talked with all of our grade levels in talking about developing not only weekly goals monthly goals and yearly
039goals for our students at every single level whether that's ninth or 12th grader who's looking at colleges or other opportunities after this year so we've been doing great work I really appreciate all of your support and that's our update for the week thanks thank you Mr Silver hey good evening I'm Chris silver program coordinator Renaissance Charter Academy if you drive past the high school you'll see a new building that we are leasing which is the Renaissance Academy so that's the mystery building and that's us um we have we have some exciting goals moving forward in this new space and I think one of the things is the space allows us to um to help students in their quest for upper level Math and Science courses we now have a full-blown science lab and we're excited
040about that so one of our goals is just to get more students taking higher level Math and Science within our program if you're not familiar with the Renaissance Academy we are an alternative high school whereas we're smaller classroom sizes we work with kids that have not Thrive traditionally in in a a regular High School setting another goal that we have is uh and I think it ties into a lot of the conversation tonight is to make sure that students feel safe and welcome and feel like they're part of our Renaissance family so we have with the help of school board with the help of Community Resources we're now offering on-site therapy for students once a week we have Community circles that we run where students have a voice twice a week and we work very
041closely with restorative St Croix restorative practices uh let's see and another thing that's kind of near and dear to me as a a business administration undergrad is that our students uh by the time they graduate will gain an understanding of basic Financial Concepts and will develop a financial plan for their future so that's important to us as we get ready to or help them get ready to enter the world of work knowing what to do with the resources so that they're secure and they have a bright future that way so those are our three goals thank you very much Mr Chapin you're up for Meyer Middle School all right Amanda put one minute up there for me I'm gonna do a little fast all right so here's the first goldmeyer Middle School uh as you
042know we've been working on standards-based grading for the last two years we have one more year to get that work done the bulk of our work this year is building uh common assessments aligned to our standards and we gave a pretty lengthy presentation about a month ago Ted program our second goal uh is academic growth looking at the percentage of kids scoring proficient Advance by cohort as they come from fifth grade through eighth grade we'd like to see two percent growth in ela and Mathematics that's leg data the forward data is leg data but we're building common and interim assessments and looking at the results of that data through our plcs and then our last smart goal is the developments and I can't take credit for this totally but Mary Beth Elliott who's serving as
043a PLC coach with us has helped us develop a PLC notebook we have 44 minutes to meet that time goes by very quickly we want to be efficient and so putting together agendas data protocols and taking notes from week to week is critical important so those are our three goals thank you thank you to all three of you as well as to the leaders of our other schools for this work that you're doing it's important and now we will turn to the superintendent's report Community referendum survey hit the mailboxes today the board is looking for feedback and input from the community I talked about that a little bit at our earlier meeting but just to reiterate the survey includes some questions regarding um decisions the board will be faced with in deciding what will be
044included on the February referendum ballot and the community input on this survey is going to be a major driver in that decision-making process we need to know this survey is going to at least take the community's temperature to determine quite frankly what your tax tolerance is because most everyone in this room and by and large our entire community supports our kids in our schools and our community the question comes down to a referendum we're asking you to put a tax on yourself and so the survey includes some detail that's pretty specific and detailed it gives you an idea of not only some things that are being considered but also what kind of attacks impact those considerations would have to help kind of guide your thinking with that would really appreciate it to get a massive
045return on the community survey as I mentioned is going to help the board in their decision making they have they will have uh survey closes October 3. the board will use October and November to determine digest the results of the survey and then determine what will they publish by way of a resolution no later than December 12th the board has to announce through formal action what the referendum ask will be in February so the target date for referendum is February 20. surveys out there right now please take time to give the let your voice be heard and have the Board review what you have to say regarding the things that we're discussing and contemplating within that survey thank you thank you now we are going to move on to action items so before the board
046this evening we have meeting minutes from the August 21st regular Board of Education meeting we have bills that have been submitted for payment we also have employment recommendations so at this point is there a motion to approve minutes bills and employment as presented so moved thank you Lindsay is there a second thank you Bob any discussion all those in favor I opposed the motion is carried all right I'll turn to you Mike for an update on finance and Facilities well we had a finance and facility meeting on 9 11. all right can you hear me so 911 we had our finance and facility meeting and it and it basically was a review of the budget that was talked about earlier tonight at the annual meeting any other input from Lynette nope all right we talked
047about what Jamie just talked about the referendum survey and and the importance of getting that out and we reviewed it and before it went out to publishing and so I'll look for that in the mail or the uh in the next couple days and those are basically the items we talked about isn't it interesting how our summaries go fast but it the meetings don't go long so I'll give you a summary of the Personnel committee the Personnel committee met on September 11th we heard a certified Staffing update and so that means about all of the teachers in our school buildings we also had an update about the new teacher orientation which was slightly different this year and that went very very well so the board is pleased with the administration's work on that we also
048heard a variety of reports related to employee retention retirements travel in and out of the district and so it was helpful to hear that information about our the the staff members in River Falls um we also received an update about a request for proposal that we have regarding a new Insurance Consultant and so we we got an update and now more information is going to be forthcoming we decided we were quite ready to review the high school secretary job description so that is has been delayed there was no action so that's the the update and now we are going to move to a consideration and or action to approve the second reading of revised School Board policy 411 rule regarding gender diverse students um I want to give some background about this and point out
049a few key items in this policy and the rule so last July the board passed the first reading of the rule for policy 411 related to gender diverse students rules are added to policies to detail the board's expectations of how the policies will be implemented so here are the details that I think would be important for us to keep track of first of all this policy policy 411 has been in existence since October of 2015. this is not a new policy the adjustments to the rule add details about how the district will do a variety of things including support students who are transgender ensure that our staff have the training to support the students the rule also requires more communication with parents and some specific instances where parents need to offer permission it's important I
050think to realize that this policy and the rule are in compliance with case law and uphold the expectations of the equal protection act this board quite frankly is not anxious to be on the wrong side of the law there has been some misunderstanding about locker rooms and showers in particular and I would like to address that this rule specifically states that if a transgender student wants to use a locker room and or shower corresponding to that person's gender identity that we will make accommodations that best meet the needs of the individual student and other District students we are not placing the needs of any student over other students we are looking at all of them finally I want to point out that the only change from July's first reading until today regards definitions after some
051conversation we intentionally limited rather than expand the number of terms that are defined in the policy there are three terms that are defined transgender gender identity and gender diverse gender diverse is a broad category that encompasses a variety of terms transgender and gender identity are defined because they are referenced in the policy sometimes when you try to list every single instance of how this applies to you're always going to miss somebody so we're hoping that the gender diverse umbrella fits a wide range of our students so with that background is there a motion pleased to approve the second reading of revised School Board policy 411 rule related to gender diverse students thank you Cindy second thank you Allison questions comments discussion from the board is this the final this is sec yes this is the
052second reading so as is the practice of the board we have two readings so we read the we pass a first reading there could be some potential adjustments this time a really very few and then the board passes a second reading and then it becomes the designated policy of the district right Stacy I just make one comment um with reference to Mr souter's comments earlier wondering well what what will happen to an employee who says they conscientiously object to identifying someone by the requested pronouns or name I would just say that as a school board member it's my expectation that all 500 of our employees follow District policy as stated and it's the job of administration to ensure that District policies are followed are there any other questions or comments I can just um quickly
053make a couple comments before we vote um I just want to share I do intend to vote no again this evening and I want to explain why that is Lindsay you should maybe talk into it go ahead better okay um so I what I said was that I do intend to vote no again and I want to be clear about why I'm doing so out of respect for our board and for Mr Benson um so I want to just first say again as I said in July that I do appreciate the language that was added to this policy about wanting to maintain positive relationships with families in our district that was new language that was added over the course of this revision and I think it's really important to have that stated in the policy
054my concern does still remain that while there is an expressed desire to involve parents there's no requirement for parents to um at the very least be notified if their student wishes to go by a different name or a different pronoun or use a different bathroom at the school that's an accommodation the student can request and the parent does not have to be notified of that the way the policy is written now so in my my personal opinion I think socially transitioning as a child is a big deal and it can end up being a life-changing decision and so because of that I'm uncomfortable with the possibility that that decision would be made without parents being notified and pulled into the conversation about how to best support a child that's experiencing something as complicated and serious
055as gender confusion or gender dysphoria um so that would be my primary concern with the way the policy is written as it's as it stands now and then along those same lines I mentioned this in July as well I do also have a concern for some of our staff members who could potentially find themselves in a position where they have to withhold information from a student's parent because the parent has not been made aware that their student is going by a different pronoun or a different name at school and it just seems to me that that could really create a significant challenge between a teacher or a staff member and and parents and maintaining that trust that we all know is so important in working with parents as partners and educating students in our district
056so I just I think that could potentially be a burden that would be heavy for staff members to carry um so those are my primary concerns and the reason that I'll be voting no all that being said I I think and know that everyone here cares about our students and their parents and staff and wants to serve them well um of course we all recognize and have had conversations about how complicated the nature of this particular issue is but for me I'm not comfortable approving the policy as written one of the things I you know I'm all for parent involvement obviously parents are um an important part of the puzzle one thing I think that isn't recognized by some is that some parents aren't engaged in their in their kids lives we have kids that
057positive Alternatives that parents aren't engaged how do we to have a rule in place that says we have to work through those parents that may be in jail maybe in treatments um we have we have we have students that are homeless that are um don't have parent as part of their life and so I I think this 99.9 percent of the time I would hope that parents are engaged those parents that are active in their child's lives absolutely they need to be involved in this process for those kids that don't have a parent in their life I think this gives us at least some flexibility to help those students as well I agree with you Mike and I think that that is that is take his take teen of our package the note that talks
058about exceptional circumstances and the superintendent's ability to to not gain that consent from a parent so I think I'm comfortable with that caveat and I'm comfortable with that staying in there I think really what I um struggle with is that there are lots of different ways to support a child who's experiencing gender confusion or gender dysphoria um you know affirming and allowing a social transition is not the one and only approach it's actually a fairly new approach and I think it's important to recognize that every child's situation is different and unique and they're coming to their gender confusion and are are also enduring a lot of other things going on in their lives and it's impossible for the school to know exactly what's going on in their lives and have a comprehensive understanding of this
059particular child and for that reason I think it's important that we have the standard of notifying parents pulling them into the conversation as you said 99.9 percent of parents would fit that bill so we should ensure that we're notifying them pulling them into the conversation so that they can participate in developing a plan to provide support for a student that is is um is feeling gender confusion or dysphoria but what if that parent is not available I think that one of the um one of the key parts of this is on the bottom of the first page into the top where it's talking about the district recognizing the importance of Parental involvement and strives to maintain positive relationships it also talks about the district's willingness then to help convene meetings with families so that kids
060can feel comfortable that we can help Empower them to be talking with their families so I approve one of the things I appreciate about this policy is I think it's broad enough to be able to provide some of the options you're talking about Lindsay to meet the needs of students who are find themselves in this category while supporting conversations with parents but my understanding is that if a student says no I don't want my parents to know that's the end of it and and as I said I really appreciate the the language in here that says that staff will emphasize the importance of parent involvement and assist the student in navigating conversations with parents and Guardians about their gender status if requested that's important to have that in there my concern is that if a
061student says no I don't want my parents to know then the district is essentially holding on to a secret um for an indefinite amount of time that I don't could not age well I guess Stacy I want to say that I I think it's um as a individual board member I think it's irresponsible to assume that I know what every family structure is and what every kid's relationship is with their family I personally am really proud of our administrators for coming forward with a policy that is absolutely in line with our mission of providing a safe and collaborative environment for everybody and our values that put students first people matter Equity respect Integrity this is absolutely in line with our mission and values um and I appreciate that I also want to say the impact
062that policies like this have on the people that they're targeted at is Monumental and is affects their daily the way they navigate their daily life in a way that if you haven't been on the receiving end of a policy that targets you as a human you can't understand how that impacts your entire experience in that space [Applause] that's all I want to say so thank you uh Jamie and Men team board members community that came out to support this thank you are there any other comments from the board all right and all those in favor I opposed no so the motion is carried at a margin of five to one at this point [Applause] are there any proposed or suggested items for future board meeting agendas all right we're going to schedule the next meetings
063so the educational program committee will meet Monday October 2nd at six o'clock finance and Facilities will meet Monday October 9th at six o'clock the Personnel committee will meet Monday October 9th at seven o'clock or immediately following the finance and Facilities meeting the next regular board meeting will be Monday October 16th at six o'clock those meetings will all take place in the district office and now at this point first of all thank you all for coming but now the next thing is I would like a request to move into executive session pursuant to Wisconsin statute 1985-1 is there a motion please thank you Cindy is there a second Bob thank you I need a roll call and we are going to reconvene in the media center so Ellison Bob Cindy I'm saying yes Mike