Dive Brief:
- The Janesville School Board in Wisconsin has adopted a policy aiming to curb discrimination against transgender students.
- Under the new rule, transgender students may use the restroom of the gender they identify with as long as they have a note of permission written by their parents and approved by the principal.
- While the school already has a gender neutral bathroom, the new rule allows transgender students to use single-sex bathrooms and locker rooms.
Dive Insight:
"I have to commend the school board and the school district for stepping up," Craig High School teacher Katy Hess told the Associated Press. "The GSA and a lot of people were really pleased to see that."
Moves such as this may begin to crop up more often. In July, a Louisville, KY, high school made the same decision to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correlate with their identified gender.
It will be interesting to see how Wisconsin families respond to this decision. In Kentucky, it did not go as smoothly. Parents rallied together in protest, filing an appeal stating that the school board's decision was "inconsistent with state and federal law, inconsistent with concerns for safety and inconsistent with concerns for liability."