The New Hampshire School Board Association is advising Granite State public schools to roll back antidiscrimination protections for transgender students in order to keep their federal funding.
Reports Vermont Public:
Nearly thirty-three percent of New Hampshire public schools had policies protecting transgender students in 2022, according to a survey by the ACLU of New Hampshire. So far, those now reevaluating their policies include Manchester, Claremont and White Mountains Regional School District.
Public school leaders have scrambled to make sense of new federal demands under the Trump administration, which has threatened to withhold funding for schools that allow transgender girls to play on girls sports teams and rescinded a wave of policies meant to support transgender people in schools or other public spaces.
According to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, federal funding makes up about 5% of local school budgets.
In its guidance to schools, the New Hampshire School Board association also pointed to a judge’s decision in a Tennessee court case that further rolled back anti-discrimination protections.
The association advised schools to consult their attorneys and consider eliminating references to gender in their anti-discrimination policies. It also joined the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association in advising schools to adopt athletic policies that align with the Trump administration’s executive order forbidding transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams.
A federal decision Wednesday involving Maine schools illustrates the potential consequences for districts. The U.S. Department of Education gave the state 10 days to agree to amend its policy allowing transgender girls to play on girls sports teams. Failing to do so, the department said in a letter, will result in a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice “for enforcement including termination of (the state’s) funding.”
Read the complete Vermont Public story here.
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