The school board of Epping, New Hampshire is grappling with a new policy of guidelines concerning transgender and nonbinary students. The major concern is over when, or if, it’s appropriate to allow “school personnel to inform parents of their child’s decision to come out,” reports Seacoast Online.
The board’s intent is to keep parents in the loop concerning the well-being of their kids; the problems here are over the privacy rights of the students, the physical and emotional safety of those whose families may not be supportive, and concerns of school counselors if required to break confidentiality with the students they’re counseling.
After hearing from students, staff and board members, the board decided at their last meeting, in July, to keep working on revisions to the policy before voting on it.
Explains Seacoast Online:
The current policy adopted in 2015 stated that school employees should not disclose information unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure.
Students said notifying parents could do more harm than good while school counselors were concerned about breaking confidentiality.
The new revised proposed policy still allows parent notification but only at the elementary level. It reads in part: “If school staff members believe that gender identity or expression matter is presenting itself, approaching parents at the elementary level is appropriate.”
The latest revision allows for parental notification when the school team determines that the student is not capable to make a decision due to age or disability, but also allows for a waiver from notification, signed by the superintendent, if the student has concerns about physical or emotional harm due to their coming out.
“It is always the counselor’s and psychologist’s goal that within two or three months of a child coming out to them, that they are able to communicate with the parents,” Furbush said. But, he added, “It doesn’t look like that all the time. Coming out may pose challenges and risks, and that’s why we created the waiver option.”
“If we ever felt a child was in danger, we would not share that information,” [Superintendent William] Furbush stated.
Furbush said one element missing from the original policy was a support plan for a child’s coming out.
The new draft policy calls for a plan to be developed by the school, in consultation with the student, parent or guardian and others as appropriate, to address the student’s particular needs.
Read the complete story on Seacoast Online.
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